Popular young director Halitha Shameem hit the jackpot with her romantic anthology film, Sillu Karupatti, in 2019 and has since made a name for herself as a talent to reckon. Halitha made heads turn with Sillu Karupatti, which had Samuthirakani, Sunainaa, Manikandan K, Nivedhithaa Sathish, Kravmaga Sreeram, Leela Samson, Sara Arjun, and Rahul in the lead roles, with the film turning out to be a critical and commercial success. Since then, Halitha 's next film, Aelay, which has her reuniting with Samuthirakani and Manikandan, had been announced for a worldwide theatrical release on February 12. 

A joint collaboration between Wallwatcher Films Production, Sashikanth's Y Not Studios and Reliance Entertainment, Aelay's release saw a sudden turnaround at the last moment earlier this week. Aelay, which has Vikram Vedha director duo Pushkar-Gayathri serving as the creative producers, has now been announced to be skipping its theatrical release and will instead be premiering directly on Vijay TV on February 28, 2021. Taking to their social media pages, Y Not Studios on Thursday made an announcement saying Aelay will have an exclusive world premiere on February 28 (Sunday) at 3PM on Vijay TV. 

Below is the official press release for Aelay's TV premiere:

"YNOT Studios, Reliance Entertainment and Wallwatcher Films are proud of producing 'AELAY' starring Samuthirakani and Manikandan in lead roles, written and directed by critically acclaimed filmmaker Halitha Shameem, who has continuously won the hearts of the general audience and critics for creating beautiful movies rich in emotions and portraying relationship values exquisitely. We were enthusiastically planning to have a grand worldwide theatrical release on February 12, 2021. However, just three days before the much-anticipated theatrical release, due to certain unforeseen and surprising policy developments, theatres were not made available for the film and we were left with no other option but to skip the theatrical release and to ensure that the film be made available to the larger audience, we are partnering with STAR Vijay for a Worldwide Television Premiere of 'Aelay' on the 28th February 2021 (Sunday) at 3PM. We remain committed to nurture talent and making available quality content to the audience across platforms including theatres." 

Aelay's story revolves around Samuthirakani and his life and death, with Manikandan playing his son in the film. The rural family entertainer 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.