Bairavaa returns to theatres on January 1 for CM Vijay's fans

Bairavaa is coming back to theatres on January 1, 2027, ten years after it opened, as a New Year’s treat for fans of an actor who is now Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister. Vijaya Productions, which made the film under producers B. Venkatarama Reddy and B. Bharathi Reddy, is planning a wide re-release, with SIM Cine International distributing across the state.

With Vijay out of acting, his back catalogue has become the only way to put him on a big screen. Mersal returned for his birthday in June on exactly that logic, and Bairavaa now takes the New Year’s slot.

Bharathan directed it, his second film with Vijay after Azhagiya Tamil Magan. Before that he was the dialogue writer behind Vikram’s Dhil and Dhool and Vijay’s Ghilli and Madurey, and later Veeram. Keerthy Suresh played the female lead, Jagapathi Babu was the villain, and Daniel Balaji, Sathish, Thambi Ramaiah and Mime Gopi rounded out the cast. Santhosh Narayanan’s songs, Pattaya Kelappu, Nillayo, Papa Papa and Varlaam Varlaam Vaa among them, are still fan favourites.

The film opened on January 12, 2017, as a Pongal release, and the makers say it crossed Rs 100 crore within five or six days. They also say TV channels report big ratings every time it airs.

The pitch for the re-release is about age as much as nostalgia. Vijay fans who were children in 2017 are young adults now, and many of them never saw Bairavaa in a theatre. On New Year’s Day, they get the chance.