Always fascinated to see films shot in limited sets, along with a large number of actors make it exceptionally hard for any director to succeed.
In Kanikosen we saw another experiment of Sabu. Without his favorite running scenes, constant adjustments of ideas that eventually revealed his underlying message was done in a way like peeling off layers of an onion.
By shading light on (or highlighting) a particular character - guys whom aren't even the leading roles but randomly picked on set at times - to patch together clues to solve his riddle; the story is well-told.
While I saw great attempt Sabu has made in experimenting with storytelling techniques, unfortunately he has deprived the viewers to relate to his characters (they're either killed or left out once their lines are said); a good number of viewers were even bored away before the 2nd half started...