October 04 marked eight years since the release of C Prem Kumar's directorial debut '96, starring Trisha and Vijay Sethupathi in the lead roles. Exactly 96 months since its original release, the film's makers are all set to bring it again to theatres on October 09, Friday. There are no major releases in Tamil on the coming Friday, partly because of Rajinikanth's Jailer 2 being set for an October 15 release. This leaves a release slot open for other films tomorrow, and the makers of '96 seem to be cashing in on this opportunity.

Interestingly, the film is set to release again at a time when Vijay Sethupathi's own Baththa, directed by Balaji Tharaneetharan, is doing really well in theatres. Baththa opened in theatres to overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics and audiences. The coming-of-age relationship drama, also starring Sai Prithvi Raj and Lijomol Jose, has earned around 17 crore from theatres, according to data from the box office tracker Sacnilk.

Coming back to '96, the film tells a love story involving Trisha Krishnan's Jaanu and Vijay Sethupathi's Ram. When the two come together after years of separation for a high-school reunion, it rekindles their old feelings for each other. The younger versions of Jaanu and Ram are played by Gouri Kishan and Adithya Bhaskar, respectively. It is worth noting that the 2018 film also had legendary singer S Janaki as herself in a cameo appearance, alongside Trisha and Vijay Sethupathi, but the makers deleted her portions in it.

The rerelease of the film provides a newer generation of audiences an opportunity to watch it for the first time in theatres, while allowing the older generation to savour the beauty of this story of unrequited love once again. The film is best known for Prem Kumar's sensitive direction, the performances by Trisha and Vijay Sethupathi, and Govind Vasantha's soulful music.