When Sun Pictures first teased the return of Mankatha, fans knew it was only a matter of time before the cult favourite stormed theatres again. Now the banner has made it official. The Ajith Kumar led blockbuster will re-release in cinemas on January 23, Friday, giving audiences a chance to experience one of Tamil cinema’s most stylish crime thrillers all over again.
Sharing a new teaser to announce the date, the production house wrote, “Mankatha daa! The Kingmaker is back to meet you all,” a line that instantly sent social media into a nostalgic frenzy. For a generation of fans, Mankatha is not just a film. It is a mood, a statement of intent, and the moment Ajith Kumar reminded everyone why he is called Thala.
Mankatha daa!🔥 The Kingmaker is back to meet you all ♠ï¸� #Mankatha Re-releasing from January 23 in theatres near you!💰#AjithKumar @vp_offl @thisisysr @akarjunofficial @trishtrashers @actor_vaibhav @Premgiamaren @AshwinKakumanu @MahatOfficial @andrea_jeremiah @iamlakshmirai… pic.twitter.com/duMk855DrH
— Sun Pictures (@sunpictures) January 4, 2026
The film that changed Ajith’s game
Released in 2011, Mankatha arrived at a crucial point in Ajith Kumar’s career. After Billa in 2007, he had largely stayed away from unapologetically grey roles. Venkat Prabhu’s script gave him the perfect excuse to break that self-imposed restraint. The actor plays a suspended cop who teams up with a gang of robbers to pull off a daring heist involving crores of rupees from cricket betting.
The thrill lies not just in the robbery but in the shifting loyalties within the gang. When the time comes to split the money, betrayal becomes inevitable, turning the film into a gleefully cynical cat and mouse game. Ajith’s character is manipulative, selfish and charming in equal measure, making him the kind of anti-hero Tamil mainstream cinema rarely allowed at the time.
The film also featured strong performances from Arjun Sarja, Trisha, Vaibhav and Jayaprakash, each adding texture to the morally murky world Venkat Prabhu was building. It was a sharp departure from the star driven template of the era, and that risk paid off in style.
A cult classic powered by Yuvan and Venkat
Mankatha went on to become one of the highest grossing films of Ajith Kumar’s career and a landmark hit for Venkat Prabhu. The director has often spoken about how Ajith showed faith in him despite his limited experience handling a superstar project at the time. That trust resulted in a film that remains endlessly quotable and rewatchable.
A huge part of the film’s staying power comes from Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music. The Mankatha theme, with its pulsating energy and unmistakable swagger, has long transcended the film. It now routinely features in tribute montages ahead of Ajith’s releases, almost as a ritualistic reminder of the Kingmaker era.
Over the years, Venkat Prabhu has also hinted at the possibility of a sequel, saying he would love to revisit the world of Mankatha if Ajith’s dates permit. He has admitted that he approached the film as a fan first, imagining how he himself would want to see the superstar on screen. That fan boy instinct is perhaps why the film still feels so alive more than a decade later.
With the re-release now locked, a whole new generation of viewers will get to witness the thrill of watching Ajith’s morally compromised cop on the big screen. For older fans, January 23 is not just a date. It is a homecoming.
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