His performance received mixed reviews with Behindwoods.com stating: "Shanthanu has to play a thinly sketched hero, but he puts energy and charm into everything he does" and that "he is more than promising- he's star material, and he'll survive this wreck".

[1] Another critic at Sify.com stated that he "has that star quality to him which is so rare to find these days, but is wasted in a role in which he just romances his heroines and dances".

[2] Despite having a popular soundtrack composed by A. R. Rahman, the film received largely negative reviews and became a box office failure.

Though the romantic comedy Kandaen (2011) received positive reviews and took a good opening, his subsequent films including the action drama Aayiram Vilakku (2011) and Thangar Bachan's Ammavin Kaipesi (2012) and the courtroom drama Vaaimai (2016) received negative reviews and did not perform well at the box office.

[9] The actor called the film his "re-launch in Tamil cinema" and underwent a makeover to portray the lead role of a non-resident Indian who falls in love with a married woman played by Parvathy Nair.