The names of the lead characters are also the names of main rivers in india.
Kamal:krishna
The late mother(wife of Krishna) : Narmadha
Suganya: yamuna
Daughter: kaveri
Son: bharani
On the centenary of Indian cinema in April 2013, Forbes India included Kamal Hassan's performance in the film on its list, "25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema".
Mahanadhi has often been cited as one of the saddest and most depressing films from Tamil cinema.