According to Sreehari Nair of Rediff.com, Maheshinte Prathikaaram has the key qualities of a great short story; he found it closer to the creative non-fiction style specialised by the writers of Esquire magazine in 1960s in terms of rhythm and pacing. Nair noted strong left-wing ideology in the film due to Pothan's political philosophy, with the director indirectly using the idea of equality inherent in his characters' belief system: "A game one can play on every subsequent viewing of the movie is to note how a major character in one scene had appeared as a minor character in some scene before". Each of the film's characters was unique. Pushkaran later clarified that the film did not reflect his personal or political views.
