The film stars Akash and Divyasree, with Santhoshi and Santhana Bharathi in supporting roles.
[3] Savitha Padmanabhan from The Hindu wrote, "films such as Penngal are required to make us a little more conscious of the social problems but they should be made with a little more care and sensitivity".
She added, "one must commend the director for taking on such a theme", as "he brings to focus every aspect of these women's miserable existence - the desperation and dejection on the faces when a son is born, the fear when their young daughter is forcefully 'readied' for the 'occasion', the poverty and the diseases and the ostracism from the rest of the world".
[4] Visual Dasan of Kalki praised the director for taking up social issue in his debut film also praised sharp dialogues and Bharadwaj's music but panned Divya's acting and also felt the film has documentary feel in places.
[5] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote, "It's a film that comes like a whiff of fresh air.