The film stars M. G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa, with M. N. Nambiar, Manohar, Nagesh, S. V. Ramadas, Vijayalakshmi and Madhavi in supporting roles.

It revolves around a doctor who is sold into slavery for rebelling against the dictator of his nation, and later forced into a life of piracy.

It was a milestone for both Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa, cementing the former's image as a "do-gooder" among the general public, and helping the latter enter politics.

The slaves make an escape plan of their own and successfully take over the pirate ship, with whom they fought earlier.

Manimaran tells the pirate captain about their plight and asks him to help them reach Neidhal Naadu.

He accompanies the slaves led by Manimaran, to achieve their goal of freeing Neidhal Naadu.

Manimaran politely refuses, citing his intention to continue his work as a doctor, serving the people.

After producing and directing films like Veerapandiya Kattabomman (1959), Kappalottiya Thamizhan (1961) and Karnan (1964), B. R. Panthulu was in debt since they did not perform well commercially or recover their costs.

On 16 October 1965, Padmini Pictures released a press statement saying this was a conscious decision due to "these days of national emergency".

[27] On 17 July 1965, The Indian Express criticised the story as formulaic and performances, but praised the action sequences, cinematography, and music.

[28] On 31 July, T. M. Ramachandran wrote for Sport and Pastime, "Although some of the scenes in the film have a familiar ring, the picture, on the whole, sustains the interest of the audience on account of some clever treatment by the director".

Munusamy liked the fact that there was no onscreen death; Manikkam concurred, saying that despite so many villains and fight scenes, there was not even a single death seen, and felt the title Aayirathil Oruvan rightly reflected Ramachandran's status as one good man in the midst of a thousand villains.

[26] Historian G. Dhananjayan said it became a landmark in Tamil cinema for "its grand making and unique approach of even villains reforming".

[34] Forty-nine years after the original theatrical release, the film was digitally enhanced for a planned re-release in January 2014.

[35] The digitised version of Aayirathil Oruvan was released on 14 March 2014,[36] and had a theatrical run of 175 days, becoming a silver jubilee hit.