The film focuses on a sadistic man who makes life miserable for everyone in his village, including his wife and children.

While adapting the short story, Mahendran made substantial changes to the screenplay, especially with the treatment of the lead character.

The film was produced by his friend Radha Balakrishnan, photographed by Ashok Kumar and edited by B. Lenin in his debut, with music composed by Ilaiyaraaja.

Sundaravadivelu lives with his chronically ill wife Lakshmi (Ashwini) and their two children: son Raja (Master Haja Sheriff) and daughter Bhavani (Baby Anju).

Lakshmi's father Thambusamy (Charuhasan), a pensioner, lives in the same village with his second daughter Shenbagam (Madhu Malini).

Bhavani falls sick, and Lakshmi takes her to the recently appointed village health inspector (Sarath Babu).

When Thambusamy, unable to tolerate the harassment of his son-in-law, plans to leave the village, the health inspector offers money to settle the loan.

Sundaravadivelu, remorseful over turning the peaceful villagers into a vengeful mob, shares a tender moment with his children, then drowns himself in the river.

The film would be Uthiripookkal, an adaptation of the short story "Chitrannai" by Pudhumaipithan, which Mahendran read when he was in school and according to him it had impacted his life.

[9] While reading the short story, Mahendran was completely attracted by the plot and made many changes into the screenplay according to his own wish.

[12][13] Mahendran himself produced the film under the banner Dimple Creations, named after his daughter and he had chosen his friend Radha Balakrishnan to handle production duties.

[15] Debutant Ashwini from Bangalore was chosen to portray Sundaravadivelu's first wife Lakshmi,[12] and her voice was dubbed by Anuraatha Rajkrishna.

[22] According to Ram Chander of Film Companion, the character of Sundaravadivelu "represents the filth in the hearts of all men and the climax is a call to destroy that demon so that we can move on as a society.

"[32] The Hindu wrote on 26 October, "This colour movie is bound to change the fate of [the] Tamil film industry provided the producers take the cue.

[42] In a 2002 interview with The Hindu, director Mani Ratnam remarked "If I get anywhere near what Mahendran did in [Uthiripookkal], I’ll be a happy man.