It hit the online space today, along with its Telugu-dubbed version, Whistle.
Bigil stars top Tamil actor Vijay in the dual role of father, Rayappan and son, Michael Rayappan.
Michael is a slum footballer-turned-don, compelled to give up his football dream and take to the crime world owing to the murder of his crime don father by his rivals. He is later coaxed to coach the Tamil Nadu Women’s Football team by his friend.
After copious amounts of action and drama, Michael finally leads the team to become national champions. The film also stars Nayanthara as his leading lady and Jackie Shroff as the primary protagonist. The movie, when it released in cinemas, broke several records, becoming the highest-grossing Tamil flick of the year in India, as well as overseas.
Recent events had cast a shadow over the movie’s release in the online space. A Hyderabad filmmaker, Nandi Chinni Kumar, filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement against the film’s director Atlee, its producers, and actor Vijay.
Apparently Bigil bears striking similarities with the life story of slum footballer Akhilesh Paul, whose exclusive biography rights are held by Kumar.
What happened to the aforementioned ban is still a mystery—there’s no lead on it whatsoever—but the good thing is that Bigil is finally streaming online for fans to enjoy, especially those living overseas.
In a sad aside, online piracy websites were suddenly flooded with high-quality HD prints of Bigil, thus initiating a potential setback for Amazon Prime, which has obviously paid a premium for its digital streaming rights. The development apparently forced Amazon Prime’s hand, which streamed Bigil a day earlier, 12th December. It was initially scheduled to air on 13th December.