[1][2][3] The film starts in the early 1950s showing Sreedharan, the protagonist, as a very popular communist leader and trade union activist.

He is forced to go underground after his name is associated with the murder of the owner of a tile factory.

The film ends when both the communist parties jointly celebrate his martyrdom.

Iqbal Masud of The Indian Express wrote, "This is the first attempt in our cinema to get inside the situation of a willed and committed revolutionary and to depict with masterly imagination and invention, what happens there under the duress of a harsh and interminable battle against a formidable system.

What is so impressive about it is not only its original subject matter but the fastidious style with which it is made" The film has been nominated for and won the following awards since its release: Girish Kasaravalli included the film in his top 10 Indian films stating, "Adoor introduced a unique way of depicting the socio-political situation of contemporary India.