Yaanai

The film was tentatively titled as AV33. On September 9, 2021, the film's official title was unveiled as Yaanai by 33 prominent Indian celebrities such as Anurag Kashyap, Vijay Sethupathi, Arya, Pa. Ranjith, Vignesh Shivan, Keerthy Suresh and many more others.[10][11]

Priya Bhavani Shankar was cast in as the female lead opposite Arun Vijay, marking their second collaboration after Mafia: Chapter 1. Ramachandra Raju was reported to play dual roles in the film while veteran actress Radhika and other actors and actresses like Yogi Babu, Samuthirakani, and Ammu Abhirami appear were cast in other pivotal roles.[12]

Principal photography of the film began on 3 March 2021[13] and wrapped up on 7 December 2021.[14]

The teaser trailer of the film was released on 23 December 2021.[19] The film was initially planned for release in theatres on 6 May 2022, but got postponed due to lack of adequate screens. It was later scheduled for 17 June 2022, but got postponed again due to Kamal Haasan's Vikram for record breaking success.[6] The film was finally released in theatres on 1 July 2022.[20][21]

The film is distributed in Tamil Nadu by KKR Cinemas.[22]

The post-theatrical streaming rights of the film was bought by ZEE5 and the satellite rights of the film was bought by Zee Tamil and Zee Thirai.[23] The film is scheduled to digitally stream on ZEE5 from 19 August 2022.[24] after completing its 50 day theatrical run.

The film opened well with an opening day gross of ₹15 crore. The film managed to do better on its second day, a weekend, with an increase in box office collections by 22% for a total gross of ₹30 crore. On its third day, the film grossed ₹18 crore.[25] The film performed well grossing over ₹41 crore in Tamil Nadu and ₹16.3 crore from other territories for a total gross of around ₹56 crores on day 17. The film have grossed around ₹70 crore nearing its theatrical end,[2] and went on to become one of the highest-grossing Tamil film of the year.[2]

The film received generally positive reviews from critics who praised the direction, performances of the entire cast (particularly Arun Vijay, Ramachandra Raju and Samuthirakani), emotional quotient, action sequences and background score, but criticized the formulaic plot.[26][8][9]

M Suganth of The Times of India gave 3 out of 5 and wrote "Some of the characters are also interesting. If not for Lingam, Samuthirakani's Ramachandran, a casteist, self-centered rich man, would have been the antagonist of the film, and Hari builds his character's are pretty well. Even Ravi isn't perfect, with his views constantly shifting, and Arun Vijay does a good job in putting across this character as a flawed man who means good. We see that he is a product of the casteist, patriarchal culture that he's grown up in, but will always put being humane above all else. Priya Bhavani Shankar and Radikaa score in the couple of scenes that they get while Yogi Babu impresses more in one emotionally charged scene compared to the numerous attempts at comedy."[3]

Praveen Sudevan of The Hindu, after reviewing the film wrote "Arun Vijay, thankfully, is not as loud as some of the earlier Hari protagonists. But he gets to flex his well-worked out muscles, especially in one well-choreographed, single-shot action sequence towards the end of the first half. He tries his best to make the melodramatic scenes work too. The emotional beats of these portions, however, are too generic. Despite the ensemble cast, including Samuthirakani, Radhika, Bose Venkat, Priya Bhavani Shankar, and others, the film hardly succeeds in keeping us engaged."[27] Moviecrow gave the film's rating 2.75 out of 5 and stated "An agmark Hari film, the man is back in action with an emotional actioner that is sure to attract its targeted family audience. He has revamped his style a bit, by improving his presentation skills, but sticking to some of his flaws too with respect to the comedy track. Racy flow is missing at places, nevertheless it’s a satisfying masala flick with a convincing story and strong performance by Arun Vijay."[28] India Herald rated the film 4 out of 5 stars stating that "The fight between the good and the bad would have been interesting to watch if the villain had been more powerful. Although GV Prakash's songs don't really have much impact, the score makes up for it by giving the scenes greater intensity."[29] Karthik Keramalu of Firstpost gave the film's rating 3 out of 5 and stated that "Love alone doesn’t win at the end of the day in Yaanai. Dysfunctional families that remain functional during a malfunction also win here."[30] Bhavana Sharma of Pinkvilla gave 3 out of 5 and wrote "On the whole, Yaanai is a film that is definitely worth a watch this weekend."[31] Indiaglitz gave the film's rating 2.8 out of 5 stating that "Go for this sentimental action film in which Arun Vijay is at his best".[32]

Behindwoods rated 2.5 out of 5 and wrote "Arun Vijay's performance, GV Prakash's music & Hari's Family Drama elements make Yaanai a watchable commercial entertainer."[33] Sruthi Ganapathy Raman of Film Companion after reviewing the film wrote "But some things never change about potboilers, and sadly the film also stands by the genre’s murkier side. Apart from Radhika’s noticeably fierce character arch, the women in the PRV family are reduced to damsels in distress and crying bots, who are often thrashed for their daughters’ attitudes. Priya Bhavani Shankar (who plays Jabamalar, Ravi's love interest) initially comes off as a glitch in the matrix that is this genre, and stands up to the ridiculousness that the men around her spew. But she is also put in her place when her time comes."[34] Navein Darshan of The New Indian Express gave 3.5 out of 5 and wrote "When mainstream cinema brings such wholesomeness and depth, they do warrant some forgiveness from us for its flaws."[35] Ananda Vikatan rated the film 41 out of 100.[36] S Subhakeerthana of OTT Play rated the film 1.5 out of 5 stars, stating that "An average time-pass film that sticks to a tried and tested formula."[37]