The director showed a penchant for brilliantly portraying rustic life in rural Kerala. 
Bharathan has directed over 50 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Starting his career in 1975 with Prayanam, Bharathan rode to fame with his off-beat Thakara, a film about a dumb-witted central character who falls in love with the village beauty. Some of his other memorable films include "Rathinirvedam", "Chamaram", "Paalangal", "Amaram", "Vaishali" and "Alolam".

He displayed a rare talent in treating sex without falling into vulgarity which was to later became the trademark of the so called "Bharathan touch". His association with Padmarajan was the beginning of a golden era in malayalam cinema. Few more films came out from the duos partnership before Padmarajan became an independent director himself. "Rathi Nirvedam" and "Thakara" were the most noted among them with latter being considered one of his best. 

"Rathi Nirvedam" was a sensitive treatment of teenage sexual angst. In "Thakara", he deals with life and longings of a mentally retarded youth and his association with the society. 

In the early eighties he made several notable movies like "Chaamaram", "Marmaram", "Paalangal", "Oormakkai", "Kaatathe Killikoodu", and many more. "They did well in theaters and set the trend for meaningful mainstream cinema. Other noted directors also followed suit. It was the romantic era of Malayalam cinema. 

Not all of Bharathan's films skirted with bold themes and controversy. In "Oru Minnaaminunginte Nurunguvettam" (1987), he tells the poignant story of a childless couple in their post retirement life. The film deals with the isolation and loneliness that comes with old age. The film was a departure from Bharathan's usual style and proved to be a major commercial hit while garnering critical acclaim too. 

His "Vaisali" (1998) is widely regarded as a modern day masterpiece in Malayalam cinema. Scripted by the iconic Malayalam novelist M. T. Vasudevan Nair, it was an adaptation of a sub-story told in the epic Mahabharatha. Another movie born from their association was "Thazhvaram". The subject was revenge, a theme quite uncharacteristic of Bharathan movies.The style of the film was inspired by Classic Westerns with a brooding, reticent central character and expansive shots of barren landscape. 

Even though he was not known to cater to the star-centric system, Bharathan was instrumental in bringing together the two screen icons of Tamil cinema Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal Hassan in the Tamil film "Thevar Magan" which won both critical acclaim and box office success.Sivaji gave an uncharacteristically restrained yet brilliant performance in the film. The movie was remade into many regional languages (most notably Virasat in Hindi) and bagged several national awards.

His more experimental films include "Aaravam", more an arthouse than commercial venture, and "Nidra", a film about the plight of a girl who is in love with a mentally deranged man.

His creativity was not confined to film direction. He also wrote lyrics and tuned songs for his films. (e.g., "Keli"; “Thaaram Valkannadi Nokki…")

Film career
Awards
Early career
Style and themes