The film begins with the young man Sakthivel (Ranjith) coming back to his village. At his return, he is respected and treated as God by the villagers, they call him Thirukkaval. Thirukkaval still hates his father Chettiar (Jaishankar), stepmother Azhamu (

The film was shot extensively in the forests of Thanjavur, Mysore and Sathyamangalam. Actress Shammu was the only professional actress to be cast in the film and Sunil Kumar prepared for his role by standing for hours under the sun to sport a tan as well