Theatres are back to business in Tamil Nadu, or it can be said that they are back to life after battling for survival. The crucial resuscitation of the big screens had resurrected the ardent cinema fans and fraternities as the industry drives to have a huge revival after the unprecedented experiment of lockdown, triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The theatres weren't under full closure and they had a brief resumption earlier this year before being shut down in the wake of the horrendous second wave. The Tamil Nadu government had recently poured major relaxations in the state and theatres across the state have reopened on August 23 in the tide of relaxations.

As the resumption was made possible by a sharp decline in the Covid-19 cases, the industry has begun the process of baking the movies to serve them hot and crispy to the fans to relish them and to make the resumption worth for the industry and for the theatres. With the fans have been settled for the binge-watching culture on OTT platforms, the arrival of top stars to the big screens would wave them towards the theatres and if the third wave of Covid-19 didn't bother much, all will go well for the industry, prefixing a pre-Covid world. Here's the listicle of movies that may come to entertain you on big screens within this year and let's start rolling from superstar Rajinikanth.

Annaatthe: 

As we said, if any Covid wave that is approaching the bay tends to be friendly, it's no doubt that this year's Diwali will be Rajini's lights of festival as the fans gear up to celebrate watching their icon on the big screens through his upcoming movie 'Annaatthe'. Bankrolled by Kalanithi Maran under his banner 'Sun Pictures', Annaatthe is directed by 'Siruthai' Siva and the movie will be bringing a cluster of stars on a single screen. While Rajini plays the lead, Meena, Khushbu, Nayanthara, Keerthy Suresh, Jackie Shroff, Jagapathi Babu, Prakash Raj, Soori, Sathish, Vela Ramamoorthy, and George Maryan will be playing important roles.

Predicted to be an action drama movie, Rajinikanth will be coming back to the big screens after nearly two years and his last movie was 'Darbar'. D Imman has composed music for Annaatthe and the movie will be released on November 4, 2021, on the occasion of Diwali.

Thalaivi:

Thalaivi, late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's biopic, will be releasing in the theatres on September 10. The movie team has earlier this week officially announced the release date, becoming the first movie to announce a theatrical release after the theatres reopened in Tamil Nadu on August 23. Produced by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Shailesh Singh, Thalaivi is directed by AL Vijay while GV Prakash Kumar has composed the music. Kangana Ranaut will be playing the role of Jayalalithaa in the movie while Arvind Swami will be playing the role of MG Ramachandran. The movie will be released in three languages - Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi and actors Nassar, Samuthirakani, Madhu Bala, Thambi Ramaiah, and Poorna will be playing important roles.

Laabam: 

While Laabam may become a big treat for the fans of Vijay Sethupathi, it is a movie where the Tamil industry will pay its respect to prominent director SP Jananathan, who passed away earlier this March due to a cardiac arrest. SP Jananathan was a National Award-winning director and Laabam was his last movie. Recently, the makers of the movie had announced that Laabam will be released in theatres and it will be released on September 9, a day ahead of the release of Thalaivi. While Vijay Sethupathi plays the lead role, Shruti Haasan will be playing the female lead. The movie is jointly produced by Vijay Sethupathi and Arumuga Kumar and D Imman will be composing the music. The movie has roped in Jagapathi Babu, Sai Dhanshika, Ramesh Thilak, and Kalaiyarasan in important roles. 

Maanaadu:

While there has been no official announcement in the release date, Maanaadu has made it to our listicle as the movie is progressing for a theatrical release this year. Maanaadu has become a much-anticipated film of Simbu and it has been getting baked for a release after the episodes of controversies and unexpected events. While Simbu plays the lead role, Kalyani Priyadarshan plays the female lead and the movie is predicted to be a political thriller and the motion posters and first looks have already been released which had poured more expectations on the movie. Produced by Suresh Kamatchi, Maanaadu is directed by Venkat Prabhu while Yuvan Shankar Raja has composed the music. Some of the prominent icons like SJ Suryah, Bharathiraja, and SA Chandrasekar will be playing important roles in the movie. 

Doctor: 

After getting deferred from release multiple times, 'Doctor' is said to become a crucial movie for Sivakarthikeyan and it was initially scheduled for release on March 26. However, it was later postponed due to the Tamil Nadu elections and then it was announced that the movie will hit the big screens on Ramzan. However, the second wave of the pandemic had spoiled the release and it is expected that the movie will get released within this year, although there has been no official announcement from the team. Produced and starred by Sivakarthikeyan, Doctor is directed by Nelson Dilipkumar, who is now busy directing Vijay in 'Beast'.

While Priyanka Mohan plays the female lead, Vinay Rai, Yogi Babu, and Ilavarasu will be playing important roles and Anirudh has composed the music for what has been touted to be a medical action film. While there were speculations that Doctor will be released directly on Disney+Hotstar, the reports close to the developments say that the team is considering releasing the movie on the big screens after the resumption of the theatres. The songs of the movie were already released and had gone viral on social media. 

Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir: 

This would be one of the touching movies for the fans of late actor Vivek as he had played a pivotal role in this thriller film. With no official announcement on the release, it is speculated that the movie is getting ready to stale for the release this year and if that happens, it would be a double treat for Vijay Sethupathi fans in a short span. Produced by Esakki Durai, the movie is directed by debut filmmaker Venkata Krishna Roghanath and the movie team is aiming to have a theatrical release. While Vijay Sethupathi plays the lead role, Megha Akash will be playing the female lead. Nivas Prasanna will be composing the music and Vivek, Magizh Thirumeni, Rithvika, Mohan Raja, Karu Pazhaniappan, and Chinni Jayanth will be playing important roles. The teaser of the movie was released in March this year. 

MGR Magan: 

Helmed by Ponram, MGR Magan casts Sasikumar in the lead role and the movie was scheduled to get released on April 23. However, the second wave of the pandemic had put a barricade in its release and pushed the team to defer the date. MGR Magan looks to have a theatrical release with a pile of stars. Actors  Mrinalini Ravi, Sathyaraj, Samuthirakani, Singam Puli, and Saranya Ponvannan will be playing important roles. Anthony Daasan has composed the music and if all go well, the movie will hit the screens before Diwali.

Aranmanai 3:

The sequence of Aranmanai, Aranmanai 3 is the upcoming horror-comedy film directed by Sundar C and it will also become one of the last movies of late actor Vivek. The movie team is gearing up to present the movie in the theatres by next month, but there has been no official announcement of the release date. Produced by Khushbu and Sundar C, Aranmanai 3 stars Sundar C, Arya, Vivek, Raashi Khanna, Andrea Jeremiah, Manobala, Yogi Babu, and Sakshi Agarwal. Sathya has composed the music and the first look and motion poster of the movie were released on April 22. Initially, the movie team has planned to release the movie in the theatres on 14th May 2021, coinciding with Ramzan. However, the release has got deferred in wake of the second wave of the pandemic. 

Besides these movies, the fans will also have treats on the OTT platforms as several movies had already been booked with the OTT platforms either on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+Hotstar. One of the notable movies that will be released on the OTT is Suriya's starred 'Jai Bhim', which will be released on Amazon Prime this November and the movie is likely to clash with Rajini's 'Annaatthe' during Diwali. Actor Suriya has also announced that his production house 2D Entertainment had signed a deal with Amazon Prime to release four movies including Jai Bhim. There has a buzz in Kollywood that Ajith starred Valimai will also be released this year, so is Vijay starred Beast. However, the shooting of these movies is yet to be completed and they are likely to be released at the beginning of next year.