"behindwoods" wrote "on the whole, panithuli is just a less impressive portfolio for ganesh venkatraman, who has tried to show us that he can carry the roles of an action hero, a lover boy and a mentally unstable man." "the hindu" wrote "panithuli is an example of how a simple story can be made complicated. to ensure that his film isn’t labelled run-of-the-mill, director natty kumar has added several episodes to a simple plot. but instead of making the film interesting, they have only turned it into a long and dreary affair." "rediff" wrote "on the face of it, panithuli, has the potential to be an edge-of-the-seat thriller. what it is, however, is a mishmash of terribly stereotyped characters trying in vain to mould themselves to suit a surreal landscape. the result leaves you laughing and yawning by turns". "sify" wrote "the romantic thriller is supposed to be full of suspense and twists but at the end it leaves you totally confused and bewildered as the hero character in the film. kumar and jay embarked on making a typical m night shyamalan movie, but ends up with egg on their face".