The music was composed by T. Rajendar and the background score is worked upon by A. A. Raj. The songs became successful and made Rajender popular as a composer. Rajender recalled that though he had composed the score for the film, his name was not credited for background score in the film which made him swear not to watch the film again which he follows till date, Post this album T. M. Soundararajan has lost his market he was criticised by greats because of singing such a awful songs. "Oru Thalai Ragam" was released on 2 May 1980. "Ananda Vikatan" rated the film 50 out of 100. The film completed 365 days of run in several theatres. Initial days after the release saw low responses at the box office. But the film became "super hit" afterwards. Critic Baradwaj Rangan mentions the film in his book "Conversations with Mani Ratnam" as an example of a love story where the lead characters hardly speak at all. Film historian S. Theodore Baskaran felt that "Oru Thalai Ragam" and "Nammavar" were the "two most representative Tamil films about students".