The movie opens with a light portrayal of the misery of his benevolent wife Shyamala and their two daughters, with Vijayan away on his latest venture — an attempt to shoot a short ad film under influence of his friend.

As a last resort to reform his son Karunan and father-in-law Achuthan Nair suggests that Vijayan undertake the annual pilgrimage to the Hindu hilltop temple Sabarimala and reorder life with responsibility.

Despite his initial protests, Vijayan undertakes his pilgrimage because he starts to lose ground for his acts, by observing the customary 41-day fasting and abstinence.

The head of the ashram guides him to lose his inferiority complexes and betray himself because knowing oneself and taking up responsibilities is the foundation of true wisdom and freedom.

He soon finds himself unwelcome there and returns to his home, to discover his family have moved on without him and sustains without hunger or by borrowing money as they did in the past from a tailoring business contract his wife took after he left.

The title and plot of the film are inspired by Chinthavishtayaaya Sita, a celebrated work by Malayalam poet and social reformer Kumaran Asan.

[3] This film was later remade into Tamil as Chidambarathil Oru Appasamy in 2005 directed by Thangar Bachan who also starred in lead role.

This was Sreenivasan's second directorial effort and won critical and commercial success and further established his position in Malayalam cinema as a gifted comedian and screenwriter.