Based on Jane Austen's 1811 novel Sense and Sensibility, it features an ensemble cast of Mammootty, Ajith Kumar, Tabu, Aishwarya Rai and Abbas.

Indian Peace Keeping Force personnel Major Bala, while fighting in the jungles of war-torn Sri Lanka, loses his right leg in an explosion triggered by Tamil militants.

Bala, who now runs a floral business, has become a depressed and alcohol-dependent man since losing his leg but he quits drinking after an argument with Meenakshi, with whom he falls in love and supports her family when in need.

After his death, their lawyer breaks open the box and find he has bequeathed all of his property to his younger son Swaminathan, at the time when his elder daughter Padma had eloped and married without his knowledge, but was unable to change the will as he was paralysed and unable to speak a few years down the lane when his daughter assisted him.

Vidya and Sowmya silently submit themselves to Swaminathan and his wife, Lalitha's demands, but Meenakshi is unable to accept the change in lifestyle.

Sowmya and her family move to Chennai when they can no longer stand Lalitha's arrogant behaviour upon inheriting the mansion.

She is later promoted to a junior programmer due to her qualifications while Meenakshi becomes a playback singer with Bala's help, but keeps searching for Srikanth whom she has lost contact with.

Nandhini is attracted to Manohar; rumours of an affair between them spread and his lack of attention to Sowmya hurts her deeply.

Manohar's film is a commercial success but when he visits Sowmya's house in Chennai, he finds she is moving to California for her company's project.

As per the opening and closing credits:[7] After the success of his directorial debut Minsara Kanavu (1997), Rajiv Menon was signed by producer Kalaipuli S. Thanu to direct a film in the final quarter of 1998.

While Menon entered the film industry, his brother focused on an academic career and later became an officer in the Indian Railway Accounts Service.

[12][15][16] After showing parts of the film to audiences in Udumalpettai and Pollachi, the team later held a group discussion before thanking the volunteers with gifts while receiving positive feedback.

[17] The casting of the younger sister Meenakshi took longer to finalise; initially the team approached Meena for the role, but she declined due to other commitments.

[18] Next, Menon approached Manju Warrier, who liked the script but was hesitant to commit to appear in the film due to her impending wedding with Dileep.

[20][21] Aishwarya Rai was then signed onto the project, making her third appearance in Tamil films after roles in Mani Ratnam's Iruvar (1997) and Shankar's Jeans (1998).

[23][20] Menon and writer Sujatha presented two points of view in the female leads; while Sowmya accepts her destiny, Meenakshi wants to make her own life choices.

[10][24] For the role of a former army general, Menon attempted to cast Parthiban but the actor's difficult relationship with Thanu meant they could not collaborate.

[20][10] Menon approached Prashanth to appear in the film in place of Prabhu Deva, but the actor demanded to be paired opposite Rai rather than Tabu.

[24][26][27] While writing the character, Menon was inspired by his experiences as a junior technician looking to make a breakthrough in the film industry.

[34] Rajiv Menon and Dhanu retained several of the technical team from his previous venture, adding Sujatha as a writer.

[35] The film's music was composed by A. R. Rahman while lyrics were written by Vairamuthu; the pair argued during the production.

[37] Scenes with Mammootty's soldier character were filmed in Munnar from February to April 1999, just before the outbreak of the Kargil War.

[22] In May 1999, the crew along with Rai and Abbas went to Scotland to film the title song in Dornie with the castle of Eilean Donan as a backdrop.

[36][38][39][40] Menon used the location to show Rai's character Meenakshi is living in a fantasy world so he filmed the song with a blue and green theme.

[36] Professional Kathakali artists were used for the song "Konjum Mainakale", and the video for "Yengay Yenedhu Kavidhai" was filmed against the backdrop of Chennai's monsoonal rains.

[50][51] In the review for Rediff.com, Shobha Warrier stated although the film has "too many songs, too little emotion", it has "a powerful story with intense and well-developed characters.

One of the most poignant scenes in the film is Mammootty's outburst against the system, which forgets war heroes who lay down their lives for a cause.

[53] Krishna Chidambaram of Kalki praised Rajiv Menon for crafting realistic scenes in an poetic manner and also called his strength of making people believe the thought process of characters and also added Ajith, Aishwarya Rai, Tabu, Abbas, A. R. Raghuman and Sujatha have given their contribution without any slip.

[54] S. Theodore Bhaskaran of The Hindu wrote "Menon's film works well because it tells a touching tale in an inventive manner and in the process, makes certain important social comments, through well-crafted cinema".

Critic Peter Bradshaw said it "is an entertaining reinvention of the novel" and that "the richly complicated plot allows it to be exuberantly transposed to modern-day India", ranking it alongside Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous.