As a boy, Raja saw his mother and younger brother murdered. He saw too that his police inspector father DCP Needhi Manikkam was powerless to get the murderer convicted as there was no evidence.
As a young man under the name of Vijay, he gets even with the criminal Mathappu Sundaram killing each one of his three sons. One under water, the second from a mountain peak, the third murder is made to look as it were an accident with the car carrying the victim hurtling off the peak.
Sattam Oru Vilaiyattu was released on 21 October 1987,[3] alongside another Vijayakanth film Uzhavan Magan on Diwali day.[4] However, both films went on to become super hits at the box office.[5]The Indian Express wrote, "The screenplay is utterly contrived and there is nothing new either in M. Karunanidhi's dialogues [..] or S. A. Chandrasekhar's treatment which is as hackneyed as ever".[6]Jayamanmadhan of Kalki questioned why Karunanidhi would associate his name for this kind of third rated films.[7]
