Bharath Gopi, Smita Patil, Sreenivasan and Mohan Das play the lead roles.

Shankaran works as the Office Superintendent in a vast government farm situated in the hilly areas on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Jacob is a down-to-earth and rather commonplace sort of person, whose social pride does not conflict with his easy-going attitude to morality.

On the way he focuses his camera on the clay horses standing in a row, neglected in the village green.

Soon after the wedding, Muniyandi brings his wife, Shivkami from the brown, barren landscape of Tamil Nadu to the green, undulating meadows of the farm.

Shankaran watches them from his office window, as they walk towards their quarters, Shivkami stopping on the way to wonder at the colourful surroundings.

She walks around aimlessly when Muniyandi is away at work and wanders into the gardens, touching each flower with supreme wonder.

And suddenly Shankaran is furiously angry and physically assaults Jacob, and they all leave him, embarrassed and upset.

In the gathering darkness, Shankaran lies on the grass, pondering on his strange reaction to a casual joke.

Jacob, who would not normally associate with what he calls "menials", is angry, and orders Muniyandi to start doing night duty from now on.

Through the half open shutters of the windows placed high on the wall, the workers of the farm peer into the inner gloom, where in a shaft of light, the dark, portly figure of Muniyandi hangs from the wooden beam.

His lifeless body sways gently to and fro, the beam making a creaking noise.

At night, his two younger colleagues are making ready for bed in their quarters, when there is a frantic knock on the door.

His friends find him a job in a printing press in the city, where he sits dreaming over the proof sheets.

He goes to Chidambaram temple, built on the spot were Lord Siva was supposed to have been, transformed from the primordial phallus to the Nataraja, the cosmic dancer who liberates the human soul from its earthly shell.

Coming out of the inner precincts of the temple, Shankaran stops to wear his shoes and pay the woman who sits looking after them at the entrance.

[5] Unlike earlier films directed by Aravindan, Chidambaram featured a cast consisting of many popular actors.

Smitha Patil, who had expressed her desire to work with Aravindan and Gopy joined the project.

"[5] The second half concentrates on Shankaran's response to the events after he runs away from the farm, and it deals with the themes of guilt and redemption.

The legend of Chidambaram temple revolves around a dance contest held between Lord Shiva and Goddess Kali.

Kali, the reigning goddess of Thillai forest near Chidambaram witnessed the Ananda Thandava (dance of bliss, as depicted in the famous Nataraja posture) by Shiva and challenged him to a contest.

Shiva, wishing to eliminate her arrogance agreed under the condition that whoever wins would become the Lord of Thillai.

[6] Some legends suggest she was unable to do it out of modesty, and Shiva deliberately performed it with Kali's gender in mind.

The richness of visuals here surpasses even those in Pokkuveyil, the suggestion of the inscrutable mystery at the heart of human affairs is conveyed unambiguously than in Estheppan.

It takes a genius to turn it into an occasion for solemn reflection upon love, life, nature and death.

He attributed the popularity of the film to a "sustained story line" and the casting of well-known cine artistes.