It stars Kavya Madhavan in the lead role and was produced by P. V. Pradeep under the banner of Anitha Productions.

The film narrates the story of some immigrants in the Persian Gulf region through the life of a housemaid in Saudi Arabia.

It is scripted by K. Girishkumar and Kamal and the story is based on a feature by K. U. Iqbal, published in Bhashaposhini, depicting the real–life incidents of a Kerala–born housemaid in Arabia.

Razak Kottekkad (Sreenivasan) is a migrant social worker in Saudi Arabia who makes an effort to both identify "unknown Indians" whose bodies arrive at the mortuary and to secure their return home.

Meanwhile, we are shown the story of Aswathi (Kavya Madhavan), who is a lower middle-class Malayali woman from Pattambi, Kerala.

She marries a thug named Radhakrishnan (Biju Menon) who confesses her about his premarital life and assures a complete change.

Due to the financial constraints of her family and the untimely death of her husband, Aswathi is forced to be the bread earner of the house and opts to go to the Persian Gulf.

After she lands in Saudi Arabia, she is forced to wear a burqa at all times, due to the strict dress code of the country.

[2][16] The report was based on the abuse and mistreatment of Khaddamas ("housemaids") in Saudi Arabia and was particularly inspired by the true life incidents of a maid servant named Subaida.

He had already directed the Gulf-centric Perumazhakkalam, which depicted the story of a young man facing death penalty in the Gulf.

[3] Kamal said: "The series that appeared in Bhashaposhini caught my attention and I thought the theme had immense potential for a feature film.

Girishkumar's earlier works were mostly family dramas, such as Veruthe Oru Bharya, Kana Kanmani and Amrutham.

Her previous association with Kamal was in Perumazhakkalam, which won her a Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress, public appreciations and critical praise.

She says: "I was really moved when Kamal sir narrated the story, which will be an eye-opener to many women in south India with dreams of living in the Persian Gulf.

"[21] The other roles are played by Sreenivasan, Biju Menon, Suraj Venjaramood, Jaffer Idukki, Murali Gopy, Lena, K. P. A. C. Lalitha and Sukumari.

Kamal had visited several labour camps in Saudi Arabia and had gathered information from a jail personnel to know more about the life of the people there.

It is a testimony of the fantastic crew that we add"[16] The central character, Aswathi, appears in a black Pardah in major parts of the film.

[30] After the show it was reported that, "Kavya was brilliant as the harassed Indian maid working in an Arab household".

During the function V. M. Sudheeran opined that Khaddama was one of the best films of recent times and that he had congratulated Kamal for the bold movie soon after watching it.

[11][13][14][33] M. Ashitha of Deccan Herald said, "Director Kamal makes convincing depiction of the obscure fate of poor Indian women in an alien land.

"[5] S. Anandan of The Hindu commented, "Kamal's movie, on its part, attempts to catalogue the society's brutality meted out to Gulf Malayalees.

"[6] Paresh C. Palicha of Rediff.com gave the film three out of five stars, saying "Khaddama is one example where he [Kamal] deals with a subject that requires realistic treatment and he has come up on top.

"[10] The reviewer of Sify.com gave the film a verdict of 'Above Average' and stated, "Khaddama handles a different issue and it is indeed one that needs grave attention as well.

This movie belongs to Kavya Madhavan, who has brilliantly delivered the role portraying the hardships of a Malayalee maid in a Sheikh's house in Saudi Arabia.

[36] Kavya Madhavan was in the final round in the Best Actress category, but she lost to Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar and Saranya Ponvannan.

The songs are composed by the duo Bennet Veetraag[49] and feature lyrics by noted poet Rafeeque Ahammed.