It intersperses events from the Ramayana, light-hearted but knowledgeable discussion of historical background by a trio of Indian shadow puppets, musical interludes voiced with tracks by Annette Hanshaw and scenes from the artist's own life.

"[2] The plot joins the legend at the exile of the prince Rama from the kingdom of Ayodhya, at the behest of king Dasharatha's favorite queen, Kaikeyi.

Having earned the right to any single favor by saving the Dasharatha's life, Kaikeyi attempts to secure her own son's inheritance over the eldest and favorite, Rama, by ordering him banished from the court.

In the company of ascetics owned by the Sage Valmiki, she gives birth to her twin sons, Lava and Kusha, and raises them to love and praise their absent father.

In an episode taken from the director's own life,[2] animator Nina Paley starts the film living happily in a San Francisco apartment with her husband and cat.

Three traditional Indian silhouette shadow puppets link episodes of the Ramayana with a lively, unscripted discussion of their personal impressions and knowledge of the epic.

At screenings of the work in progress, Paley had noted a sex split in terms of interpretations of the Ramayana, and because of this she wanted puppets of at least one man and one woman.

[5] The voices are clearly contemporary and somewhat irreverent, unlike their visualisations, which further establishes the theme of contrast between "ancient tragedy and modern comedy";[6] Chhaya Natak shadow theatre, for example, was commonly used in retellings of the Ramayana.

The slick, bold style – driven by digital animation software – is at odds with the somewhat rustic quality of the old musical recordings but allows close synchronization with the vocals.

It conveys the kind of restlessness inherent in the story and achieves a more light-hearted, universal tone with its simple, highly stylized renderings of character and environments.

The production was largely completed by Paley, with support from Jake Friedman in the "Battle of Lanka" scene,[8] primarily using 2D computer graphics and Flash Animation.

In addition to the central numbers recorded by Hanshaw, music was provided by Rohan, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Nik Phelps, Todd Michaelsen and Reena Shah of the duo My Pet Dragon, and by Pierre-Jean Duffour, composer and musician for the band Masaladosa.

Shah contributed the voice of the Sita character, in addition to choreographing and performing the dance sequences rotoscoped by Paley for the animation.

[17] The film was released for free download starting in early March, 2009 "at all resolutions, including broadcast-quality, HD and film-quality image sequences", at the time licensed under "CC BY-SA".

[1] Paley plans to make money through voluntary payments, ancillary products, sponsorships, the aforementioned limited DVD sales, and possibly other methods.

The site's consensus reads: "A tour de force for filmmaker Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues gives the Ramayana its animated due with a visually vibrant, dazzlingly imaginative triumph".

"[29] The blog Sepia Mutiny reviewed the film noting that it has "lovely, highly stylized characters" and that Paley stayed "reasonably faithful" to the original story.

"[32] Paley expressed surprise at the adverse reaction, saying "I thought it might be a bit controversial, but I wasn't fully aware of how art and artists are major targets of some right-wing nationalist groups in India.

[35] In April 2009, the film inspired a Bangkok high fashion line designed by Roj Singhakul, titled "Sita Sings the Blues".