 Shyam Benegal, a film director and a well-known admirer of Gopalakrishnan's films, also mentioned that he was not particularly pleased with "Swayamvaram".Some critics have pointed out its resemblance to Ritwik Ghatak's "Subarnarekha" (1965).Gopalakrishnan agreed on influences of Ghatak and Satyajit Ray but pointed that "Swayamvaram"'s treatment is different from Ghatak's "Subarnarekha" as "Swayamvaram" is more about the trip.