[3] The film's plot revolves around the fight between two villages, as the Kaveri water issue became controversial upon its release and did well at box office.

[8] N. S. Shankar who earlier directed Ulta Palta (1997) was originally chosen as director but he walked out of story discussion, he was replaced by debutants Loknath and Rajaram who assisted Upendra.

[11] A song was shot at Sam Sund Dunes, Kuldhara village, Pag Bawri and Gadisar Lake at Jaisalmer while rest of the song including war sequences were shot at Mohan Garh Fort, Pokhran fort at the same place.

Upendra noted that he compared the issue to Siamese twins "tried to communicate that harmonious living is the only suitable solution to the Cauvery dispute, rather than fighting over it.

"[7] The river Kaveri which is a subject matter of dispute between two states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu being used as a metaphorical reference in the movie by naming the heroine as "Kaveri" and making the two lead heroes belonging to these two states went on to inspire the 2016 Marathi movie Marathi Tigers which was a triangular love story between two lead heroes belonging to Maharashtra and Karnataka vying for the love of a girl called "Seema" (literally meaning border) – thereby referring to the border dispute between these two states.

Upendra was forced to compromise by dubbing Tamil dialogues in the film into Kannada and vice versa, to appease linguistics sentiments on both sides.

Critics applauded the way Upendra had managed to narrate a sensitive matter like the Kaveri River water dispute in a commercial way.

[4][5] Sify wrote "On the whole Upendra and Co. have dished out a decent entertainer with a clear message that politicians are responsible for all troubles in our society".

Producer Dhanraj went on a strike against Upendra demanding free call-sheet from him, stating that he had suffered huge losses from the movie.

[25] Rajaram, one of the directors of the film, mentioned in an interview that "H2O had a successful run at the box office, although the product couldn't reach the mass properly baked, for so many other reasons".

According to Upendra, the film got extra ordinary openings and collections at the box office, but could not get a long run beyond 75 days due to excessive release, mass distribution and controversies playing spoilsport.