Featuring a bilingual narrative in the Jeseri dialect of Malayalam and Hindi, the film stars Nivin Pauly, Shashank Arora, Sobhita Dhulipala, Melissa Raju Thomas, Sanjana Dipu and Roshan Mathew.

It was included in The Hindu's top 25 Malayalam films of the decade and is widely regarded as one of the defining movies of the New Wave Movement.

The ship authorities send him to a police station, and there is a communication barrier as he does not know Hindi.

While resting on the street after work, he gets kidnapped by Bhai, a local goon involved in child trafficking and drug dealing.

In a flashback, Bhai lives in Lakshwadweep as Akbar and is a performer of the Muslim ritual Kuthu Ratheeb, along with Moosa.

They are professional ritual dancers and during one such performance, he made eye contact with a young man named Ameer, who had just returned from Bombay.

Ameer was a mute and had learnt sign language from Bombay, though only Akbar happens to understand it at least partly.

In the present, Akbar, knowing that his boss is looking to punish Mulla for dropping the package, approaches Aamina, who now works as a cabaret dancer in Mumbai.

The don threatens to kill Akbar and Salim, if he does not receive the money lost for the dropped package.

The screenplay was written by Geetu Mohandas originally under the title Insha' Allah: In Pursuit of Akbar.

Geetu has mentioned in her interviews that Nivin was not the first person to come to her mind to play the protagonist, after completing the screenplay.

[1] Geetu called the film an "adventure drama", even though she does not believe in confining it into a clear-cut genre, saying "it can always turn into something else".

Pauly has stated during an interview that the filmmakers planned for Moothon released theatrically on 8 November 2019.

Sify rated the movie 4 on 5 stars and said,"Moothon treads on an unconventional terrain for Malayalam and opens a fascinating world for the viewer.

"[13] The News Minute rated the movie 4 on 5 stars and said, "Geetu Mohandas-Nivin Pauly deliver a brilliant film"[14] The Times of India rated the movie 4 on 5 stars and said, "Moothon is what happens when a powerful story meets a competent director who ropes in some of the best artists and technicians, knowing exactly what to get from them, and how.

"[17] Behindwood rated the movie 3.25 stars on 5 and reviewed, "Moothon is packed with top-notch performances.

Nivin Pauly beautifully straddles the contrasting sides of Akbar's character while Roshan Matthew memorably plays the sensitivity of Aamir.

"[18] Dennis Harvey from Variety wrote that "The film benefits from strong performances, particularly by the male leads in the flashback.

But a story with this much woe on its plate needs to slow down more often to let us fully absorb the cruel turns of fate, and “The Elder One” is often in a confounding rush".

[2] The Hindu wrote about the movie as, "Although it does not play out smoothly all through, Moothon has enough depth in it for us to dive deep, and come back with material to ponder.