Poet Puviarasu stated, "Don't go after the mystic deer, was Kamal's message in the movie Mahanadhi".
Mahanadi is a major river in India and translates to "Great River", and the names of the characters played by Kamal Haasan, Suganya, Shobana/Sangita and Dinesh are Krishna, Yamuna, Kaveri, Bharani, all names of major Indian rivers, too.