Based on Visu's play of the same, the film stars Pratap, Suhasini, Sumalatha, S. Ve.

The film was remade in Kannada as Ananda Sagara (1983), in Telugu as Manishiko Charithra (1984), in Hindi as Aaj Ka Daur (1985), and in Malayalam as Oru Sandesam Koodi (1985).

The film opens on an ordinary day in the lives of the families in a large apartment house in Chennai.

They enjoy the comforts of dual income, but their general lament is that their long work hours compel them to send their five-year-old daughter Priya to boarding school.

Lakshmiammal works as a cook to earn a meager wage, but they frequently have to pawn their valuables to get by.

Their son Madhu is an aspiring actor with dreams of making it big, and their daughter Mythili is still in high school.

Their overburdened schedule permits them to see their daughter only on weekends, and as a result they gradually drift away from the needs of their child.

As for Paramasivam, his income is squeezed by the down market or by crafty tenants (who collude with the owners and ultimately do not pay his commissions).

Lakshmiammal works long hours in hot kitchens, and worries that her declining health might just give out one day.

Anandan is happy to accept; Lakshmiammal's home cooked food is healthier and cheaper than eating out every day.

Kannan's father discovers that Lakshmiammal has been visiting a hospital to treat an emerging tuberculosis ailment caused by long exposure to cooking flames.

Paramasivam is stricken cold by the fact that he did not have cash for the cab to bring his wife to the hospital.

When Srinivasa Raghavan angrily question Mythili, she retorts that he, having never provided for the family, has no fatherly rights to ask about her business.

She reveals that the lady of the house has been stricken with a paralysing disease and that Mythili's job is to help her with her daily duties.

Anandam, in tragicomic irony, is suddenly transferred away to Dindigul just as he has found a job for his wife in Chennai.

[2][3][4] Visu's brother-in-law Kuriakose Ranga also made his film debut with this; he also wrote the dialogue "Paithiyakaara aaspathirila paithiyangalukku vaithiyam pakkara oru paithiyakaara vaithiyarukke paithiyam pudicha, andha paithiyakara vaithiyar endha paithiyakara haspathirila paithiyangalukku vaithiyam pakara oru paithiyakara vaithiyar kitta than paithiyathukku vaithiyanm pathupaar?"

[14] According to Kamala, the film, along with Alaigal Oivathillai (1981), was responsible for her being typecast in elderly or middle-aged roles.

[6] The film was remade in Kannada as Ananda Sagara (1983),[15] in Telugu as Manishiko Charithra (1984),[16] in Malayalam as Oru Sandesam Koodi (1985)[17] and in Hindi as Aaj Ka Daur (1985).