Kannai Nambathey

The film announcement made in around early 2019 about the making of the film casting Udhayanidhi Stalin titled Kannai Nambathey by director Mu. Maran.[1][2][3] The title of the film was taken from a song from the 1975 film Ninaithadhai Mudippavan.[4] Maran announced that the film is set in the crime thriller genre, similar to his directorial debut Iravukku Aayiram Kangal.[5] He wanted an actress with a girl next door image to be the lead actress on decided on Aathmika, whose performance in Meesaya Murukku impressed him.[6] Principal photography commenced on 11 February 2019.[7][8] The film experienced production delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Udhayanidhi's political aspirations,[9] with actress Subiksha Krishnan's portions only being completed by January 2022.[10]

The soundtrack was composed by Siddhu Kumar.

The film was released theatrically on 17 March 2023,[11] delayed from February.[12]

Gopinath Rajendran, a critic from The Hindu, wrote, "Like an onion, Kannai Nambathey is a collection of layers that, when unravelled, have nothing at its core, apart from leaving us teary-eyed. Probably that also explains the title."[13] Maalai Malar gave 3.25 rating out of 5 and stated that although there are some questions about the script, it does not seem like a big deal; the director has given the film so much that it is impossible to guess what the next scenes will be.[14] Logesh Balachandran critic from The Times of India wrote that "with better lighting techniques and staging, and tighter writing in the second half, the film might have created a greater impact on us" and gave 2.5 stars out of 5.[15] Dinamalar's critic gave a 2.75 rating out of 5.[16]

Dinamani wrote that the cinematics of the climax scene are not enjoyable.[17] Virakesari's critic gave 3.5 out if 5 rating and stated that Srikanth as usual has lived up to the director's expectations.[18] Murugadoss C critic from News18 stated that this film belongs to decent thriller category.[19]

• Kannai Nambathey at IMDb