 According to critic Gautaman Bhaskaran, "Rickshawkaran", like most other films starring Ramachandran, portrays him simultaneously as an action hero and champion for the downtrodden.Tamil Canadian journalist D. B. S. Jeyaraj also felt the same, adding that Ramachandran portrayed different roles in his films "so that different segments of the population could relate to and identify with him", citing his role of a rickshaw puller in "Rickshawkaran", a coxswain in "Padagotti" (1964) and an agriculturist in "Vivasayee" (1967) as examples.A writer for the magazine "Asiaweek" described "Rickshawkaran" as being a "sympathetic movie" about rickshaw pullers in Madras (now Chennai).