Young director Halitha Shameem made heads turn in the Tamil film industry in her debut venture, Poovarasam Peepee, in 2014. With the film fetching her immense praise, Halitha hit the jackpot with her next, Sillu Karuppatti, released in 2019. The romantic anthology film starring Samuthirakani, Sunainaa, Manikandan K, Nivedhithaa Sathish, Kravmaga Sreeram, Leela Samson, Sara Arjun, and Rahul surprised many and turned out to be a critical and commercial success. In that light, Halitha is back with her next, Aelay, which has her reuniting with Samuthirakani and Manikandan, with the film's trailer now out and promises to be a heartwarming family drama. 

A joint collaboration between Wallwatcher Films Production, Sashikanth's Y Not Studios and Reliance Entertainment, Aelay has Halitha's mentors Pushkar-Gayathri serving as creative producers and has now been announced for a theatrical release on February 12, 2021. The Aelay trailer chronicles Samuthirakani's death and how he lived his life, with Manikandan playing his son in the film. We get to see a lively Samuthirakani and his life as an ice cream vendor in the Manjunayakanpatti village in Dindigul district, where the entire film was shot on a single schedule. It is said that the film will showcase the life story of Samuthirakani's character in a span of 15 years till his 50s, with the narrative including several fun moments and a lot of emotions. 

Apart from Samuthirakani and Manikandan, Aelay has Madhumathi playing a pivotal role, with the film's technical crew featuring names like Kaber Vasuki and Aruldev scoring the music, Theni Eswar for the cinematography, editing by Raymond Derrick Crasta and Halitha Shameem, art direction by Vinoth Rajkumar and Dinesh Subbarayan for the stunt choreography. Initially planned for a theatrical release on August 27, 2020, Aelay was pushed back owing to the pandemic situation. There will be plenty of expectations for Aelay, especially after Halitha's Sillu Karuppatti turned out to be a surprise hit. The filmmaker will be looking to hit it out of the park once again with her Aelay and based on the visuals and the feel good story teased in the trailer we can be rest assured the film will leave us smiling once again. 

Watch Samuthirakani in the Aelay trailer below: