The film stars Prameela, leading an ensemble cast that includes S. V. Subbaiah, Sivakumar, Sasikumar, Kamal Haasan, M. N. Rajam, Sundari Bai and Senthamarai.

Arangetram marked Kamal Haasan's first adult role, while Prameela, Jayachitra and Jayasudha made their acting debut in Tamil with this film.

Though it had carried hard hitting messages and very bold scenes and was controversial at the time of its release, the film became a commercial success.

When Lalitha's hungry brother shares a meal with a beggar, she decides to disobey her father and with Udaiyaar's help, obtains employment.

Her brother Thyagu aspires to become a doctor; Lalitha runs from pillar to post to get him a seat in a medical college.

Immediately after taking up the new assignment, she asks her employer for a salary advance to be sent to Thyagu for his admission fee; realising her vulnerability, he demands her carnal company.

Both are shocked to see each other; Thangavelu, who had faked his own death just to irritate his father, is upset that Lalitha has fallen so low and leaves.

When Udaiyaar is about to perform the thevasam for his son, Lalitha intervenes and reveals that Thangavelu is alive, but does not explain the circumstances under which they met.

When Ramu Shastrigal and Visalam go to Udaiyaar's house to invite him for the engagement, they meet Thangavelu, who has returned home and ask him where he met Lalitha.

The Tehsildar agrees to continue the wedding only if Lalitha is sent out of home, and she is mercilessly thrown out by Thyagu and Ramu Shastrigal.

After the release of Velli Vizha (1972), director K. Balachander felt that films must highlight ideas that help society, and he had to dare to shoot stories that others would be reluctant to touch; this laid the foundation for Arangetram.

[14] Reviewing for the magazine Film World, T. G. Vaidyanathan wrote, "Arangetram marks a new beginning, a fresh approach and is a veritable oasis in the dreary desert wastes of Tamil Cinema.

"[15] Though the film carried hard hitting messages and bold scenes and was controversial at the time of its release,[16][17] it became a critical and commercial success.