the Hindi version AbhThe film was certified "A" (adults only) by the censor board for excessive
violence.
[17] In 2015, Virumaandi was screened at the Habitat Film Festival.[18] It was released on Amazon Prime
Video on 14 January 2021.[19]Receptionedit
Critical responseay, Taran Adarsh said, "On the whole, Abhay has nothing to offer to the hhjjj masses or
the classes. Poor".[41] Rediff author R. Swaminathan said, "What happens when an exceptionally
talented actor develops an inexplicable urge to delve into the dark side of the human psyche, and
worse, decides to paint the town red about it? Well, for one, you get a film called Abhay."[42] Vijay
Ramanan of Planet Bollywood rated the film 5.5 out of 10, saying, "The film falls flat on its face because
of its failure in the two most important departments of filmmaking –to be reduced and Rashu wardens
and convicts to bump off Chief Jailer Jayanth I.P.S. This is because all of them traffic drugs into the
prison, and this is now under investigation by Jayanth. Peykkaman also reveals that Virumaandi never
killed anyone except Kottaisamy and a henchman of Kothala, but his explicit charge sheet got him a
death sentence. A revolt among the jail staff leads to a jailbreak, as Jayanth gets stabbed and
Virumaandi saves the evidence and Angela from Peykkaman and his henchmen. Jayanth insists that
Virumaandi wear a police uniform and safely get Anscriptwriting, and direction [...] It almost seems as if
Kamal Haasan and Suresh Krishna were high on drugs while making this film."[43] Smriti Kashyap of
fullhyd.com said "The movie is a huge letdown. It lacks the pop, snap and crackle to fill you with enough
guts to potter down to the theater and watch it. Catch it on the CD, it's easier on the brains."[44]