The film is a cinematic adaptation of the novel Bhaskara Pattelarum Ente Jeevithavum by Malayalam writer Paul Zacharia. Zacharia's novel was inspired by a real-life character named Patela Shekhara Gowda alias Shiradi Shekhara. Zacharia happened to hear the stories of Patelar when he was residing near Shiradi village Mangalore in Karnataka. After the release of the film, Adoor had a tiff with Zacharia over the film. Zachariah said Adoor tainted his story with Hindutva.

Thommy, a Christian migrant labourer from Kerala is an obedient slave of his aggressive, tyrannical landlord Bhaskara Pattelar. Thommy obeys all the orders of his master, whether it is to make his own wife sexually available to his master or in killing Pattelar's kindly wife, Saroja. When Pattelar escapes to a jungle, due to his own deeds, Thommy escorts him like a pet. But when Pattelar is killed Thommy exults in freedom. Mammootty received the Nation Award for Best Actor for his performance in this movie and one other movie.

Cast :
Mammootty as Bhaskara Patelar
M. R. Gopakumar as Thommy
Tanvi Azmi as Bhaskara Patelar's Wife
Sabitha Anand as Omana
Aliyar
Babu Namboothiri
Azeez
Prof. K V Thampi
Krishnan Kutty Nair
Naveen D. Padil

Awards :
1993 National Film Awards
Best Actor - Mammootty
Best Feature Film in Malayalam - Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Kerala State Film Awards
Best Film - K. Raveendran Nair (producer), Adoor Gopalakrishnan (director)
Best Director - Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Best Actor - Mammootty
Best Story - Paul Zacharia
Best Screenplay - Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Kerala State Film Award – Special Jury Award - M. R. Gopakumar
Other awards
NETPAC Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival
Interfilm Award - Honourable Mention at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival
Feature FIPRESCI and Special Jury Prize, Singapore

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