Mohanlal won the Kerala State Film Awards for Best Actor for his performance, and the film additionally won 5 more state awards.
The film won four National Film Awards.
The film was released in 450 theaters worldwide, a record for an Indian film at that time. Also, the first Malayalam film to receive a wide release.
The film introduced Dolby Stereo in Malayalam Cinema.
The producers wanted the title Kala Pani for the Hindi dubbed version but Mukesh Duggal refused to part with it. He was producing a film titled Kala Pani with Ajay Devgan, Karishma Kapoor and Sunil Shetty. The film eventually was shelved.