It has now been officially announced that Halitha Shameem directed Aelay starring Samuthirakani and Manikandan in the lead will not be releasing in movie theaters as planned. Instead the film is going in for a direct TV premiere like Vikram Prabhu, Lakshmi Menon starrer Pulikuthi Pandi this year.

Vijay TV will be airing Aelay's premiere on February 28, 2021 (Sunday) and the makers Y NOT Studios, Reliance Entertainment and Wallwatcher Films have stated unavailability of theaters due to 'surprise policy developments' as the reason to take this route.

It is worth mentioning here that we had reported previously that theaters owners' demand of a 30-day guarantee due to the Master debacle, was causing Aelay producers to look at skipping theatrical release altogether.