Vikram Prabhu, Lakshmi Menon starrer Pulikkuthi Pandi directed by Muthiah made Tamil movie history when it decided to go in directly for a TV premiere, bypassing movie theaters and OTT platforms during the pandemic. The movie premiered on Sun TV as a Pongal special and had apparently recorded the highest impressions on TV amongst other movies also aired for the holiday. 

The highest to lowest order of TV impressions of the top 5 films, one other of which was also a TV premiere (though not direct) can be seen here:

• Pulikkuthi Pandi (Premiere) - 13,284,000 impressions
• Viswasam - 11,230,000 impressions
• Soorarai Pottru (Premiere) - 10,988,000 impressions
• Kanchana 3 - 9,000,000 impressions
• Darbar - 8,127,000 impressions