The story follows an ornithologist and a police officer who arrive in a forest to investigate a series of killings allegedly committed by a man-eating tiger.

Vamsy was inspired by his early love for detective novels in Pasalapudi, which fueled his interest in making a suspense film.

[4] During the production of Sitaara at Kovalam Beach, producer Kamineni Prasad expressed his desire to collaborate with Vamsy on a new project.

Yandamuri Veerendranath was initially tasked with writing the dialogues, but Vamsy was dissatisfied with the results and decided to revise and rewrite them himself.

This process was impacted by significant events, such as the assassination of Indira Gandhi and a cyclone, which delayed production but gave Vamsy the time needed to complete the story.

[6] For the screenplay, Vamsy spent time at a forest guest house in Araku Valley, where the director completed the script within two weeks, influenced by the location’s atmosphere.

[6] Art director Thota Tharani constructed sets in Talakona near Tirupati, where the film crew stayed in the nearby village of Nerabayalu.

Cinematographer M. V. Raghu and his assistants joined Vamsy in scouting the forest for shooting locations, encountering wildlife, including a tiger, during their explorations.

In his review for Zamin Ryot, Griddaluru Gopalrao appreciated Vamsy's screenplay and direction while being critical of the thin storyline.

On the technical aspects, Gopalrao called M. V. Raghu's cinematography "marvellous", in addition to praising the score by Ilayaraja, and performances of Karthik,[a] Satyanarayana, Rallapalli, Bhanupriya and Vijaya.

[7] Anveshana has attained cult status over the years and is regarded as one of the finest thrillers made in Telugu cinema.