Mani Ratnam's Inji Vellam starring Vijay Sethupathi and Sai Pallavi to release in January

AR Rahman has scored Inji Vellam. Mani Ratnam's last release was Thug Life, which hit screens in 2025.

Mani Ratnam is back with a romance! The veteran director is known for his iconic romances in Mouna Ragam, Geethanjali, Alai Payuthey and O Kadhal Kanmani. His upcoming Tamil film is titled Inji Vellam, and marks the first on screen pairing of Vijay Sethupathi and Sai Pallavi.

Inji Vellam is the first film to feature Vijay Sethupathi and Sai Pallavi together on screen.

Inji Vellam release date

The makers have now announced the release date of the film. Inji Vellam will arrive in theatres next year and release on January 29.

Inji Vellam translates to ginger and jaggery, which is often used as a metaphor to describe a sweet-and-spicy combination, akin to contrasting personalities coming together in a relationship.

About the film

Although the makers are tight-lipped about the plot of the film, the short motion poster released with the release date annoucement teases that Vijay and Sai will presumably play a married couple. They are also seen carrying a set of twins, who could play their daughters.

A major chunk of the film was shot in Kolkata. Last year in July, numerous pictures of Sai Pallavi and Vijay Sethupathi shooting at Howrah Bridge were leaked online. The pictures show Vijay sporting a clean-shaven look while dressed in a black t-shirt, jeans and white sneakers. Sai wore a brown, flowing dress in the pictures with her curls left loose. While some pictures seem to have been taken as the actors were prepping for the scene, with Mani instructing them, others show them mid-scene. It looks like the actors were shooting a song in Kolkata.

Mani’s last film, Thug Life, was made on a ₹200-300 crore budget; it collected less than ₹100 crore worldwide. Vijay was last seen in the film Baththa, which became a surprise hit at the box office and released on Netflix last month. Sai is currently basking in the praise for her role as Sita in Ramayana Part 1. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama and Yash as Ravana, and ends with the abduction of Sita. Sai will be seen next in OM, the Tamil film co-starring Dhanush, Mammootty and Sreeleela. It will release in theatres on November 20.