Vijay 61 release date: Ilayathalapathy's flick to lighten up screens during Diwali following postponement of Enthiran 2

The release of Vijay's 61st movie has been advanced after the the makers of Rajinikanth's 2.0 decided to delay their movie's release. The Atlee-directorial will now hit the screens during Deepavali. 

The news was formally announced by AR Rahman on Twitter. "Vijay61 @ThenandalFilms #100thfilm Releasing #Diwali2017 #FirstLookJune22 #AudioAugust. [sic]", he tweeted. The first look of the Tamil flick will be unveiled on June 22, coinciding with Vijay's birthday. 

Initially, Vijay 61, which is also referred to as Thalapathy 61, was planned to be released in September and later it was speculated that the flick would be out in January 2018 on the eve of Pongal.

On Friday, the makers of Rajinikanth's 2.0 announced that their flick will be out on January 25. "Our most ambitious project, Shankar's 2.0,shifts to 25Jan2018.It moves from earlier Diwali release to achieve world class standards in VFX. [sic]" Raju Mahalingam, the Creative Head of Lyca Productions tweeted. This lead the makers of Vijay's film to re-schedule the release of their film. 

Meanwhile, Atlee has decided to wrap up the shooting at a rapid pace, given the changed release plans of Vijay 61. Currently, key portions involving Kajal Aggarwal and Vijay are being shot. 

The upcoming movie is being bankrolled by Sri Thenandal Films and it is their 100th film. The film has SJ Surya playing a negative role, while Vadivelu, Kovai Sarala and others are in supporting roles.

Rumours are rife that Vijay will be seen doing triple roles – that of a father and his two sons. It is also the first time that the actor will be playing these roles. While Nithya Menen will be pairing up with the father's character, Kajal Aggarwal and Samantha will be romancing his sons in the movie, which has AR Rahman's music, GK Vishnu's cinematography and Ruben's editing.