Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha Krishnan are in the prominent roles as Ram and Jaanu, while newcomers Gouri G. Kishan and Aadithya Bhaskar played the younger versions.

He folds them neatly, puts them along with his treasured collection of school memories, and shuts the suitcase as the screen cuts to black.

In October 2016, it was first reported that Trisha had agreed to be part of a project opposite Vijay Sethupathi that was to be directed by cinematographer C. Prem Kumar, who worked with the latter in Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (2012).

[14] He missed the reunion but when talking to his classmates who attended the function he became fascinated about two people they were speaking about and began meeting the two and developing a story around their characters.

[13] The film's story was originally supposed to happen over a week, before the time span was changed to 24 hours, and eventually to a night.

[13][15] The technical crew of the film includes N. Shanmuga Sundaram and Mahendran Jayaraju as the cinematographers, Govind Vasantha as the music director, R. Govindaraj as the editor, Vinoth Raj Kumar handling the production design and Uma Devi and Karthik Netha as the lyricists.

[16] Apart from the lead actors, Bagavathi Perumal, Devadarshini, Rajkumar, Aadukalam Murugadoss and Varsha Bollamma were roped in for supporting roles.

After approaching Janagaraj in his home, he gave the script papers without taking much time to decide, he eventually agreed to be on board.

[17] The crew was then looking for suitable actors to play the younger versions of Sethupathi and Trisha's characters,[18] which delayed the commencement of principal photography.

Subhashree Kaarthik Vijay, who was recruited as the costume signer, was a close friend of Prem Kumar and created the look of the lead female character Jaanu based on her own style.

Discussing about his portrayal, Prem Kumar stated that his life was considered to be "inconsistent and nomadic and his thoughts were unsettling like his job".

The character was also unable to forget his first love in childhood, even though she was married, which had Kumar referred of a "few men who have remained the same as they were in their teens".

[25] The common aim is to depict the emotion of love without boundaries, as Kumar stated that "There is a sort of imperative about how a man and woman should be.

[33] The soundtrack album and background score and were composed by violinist-turned-composer Govind Vasantha for whom it was his third film he signed, and the second to get released, because of the delay of his maiden project Oru Pakka Kathai.

'96 appeared on many year-end lists as one of the best Tamil films of 2018, by top publications such as The Indian Express,[77] HuffPost,[78] The Hindu,[79] The News Minute[80] and The Week.

[82] A critic from the Indo-Asian News Service gave it a rare 5 stars out of 5 and said, "as we get to the climax and we get one of the most heartwarming moments of the film, it makes '96 a highly satisfying story of unfulfilled romance".

[85] Janani K. of India Today gave it 4 stars out of 5 and called it a "poignant romantic tale" and a "tribute to unconditional love".

[87] Sreedhar Pillai of Firstpost called the film a "refreshingly fresh romantic trip down the memory lane with outstanding performances by its charming lead pair".

[91] Vikram Venkatesen of The Quint wrote "96 has very well changed Tamil romance for good, thanks to its high dependence on music and realism in conveying nostalgia".

It has you on the edge of your seat for what are seemingly the most inane activities – school attendance, conversations over coffee and even a ride in the metro".

[112][113] Few days later Prem Kumar hosted a press conference and said that he had registered his script in 2016 and also added that he had written a spin-off novel of what happens to the lead character afterwards.

[116] On the day of its release, the film's early morning shows scheduled for 6:00 a.m. were cancelled at the last minute, leading to disappointment of the audience.

A project starring Vishal and Nanthagopal did not materialize, and the producer failed to repay the funds, that both of them had arranged; the amount was under ₹1.5 crore.

[124] Bengaluru-based Tamil writer C. Saravanakarthikeyan wrote a book based on the film titled 96 – Thanipperum Kadhal, which was released by Prem Kumar by late December 2018.

[126] The yellow kurta outfit worn by Trisha's character Jaanu became popular after the film's release and was sold by a textile store in Chennai.

[134] Nani, who watched the preview show of the film, was left emotional and decided to sign for the remake as an actor and co-producer,[135] and was reported to be paired opposite Samantha Ruth Prabhu.

[138] Titled Jaanu (2020), Prem Kumar retained the technicians who worked in the original film, and was released worldwide on 7 February 2020.

[139] '96 was remade in Kannada by Preetham Gubbi as 99 (2019),[140] with Ganesh and Bhavana portraying the roles played by Sethupathi and Trisha in the original.

[147] While giving interviews to both Tamil and Telugu media as part of Meiyazhagan promotions in the year 2024, the director C. Prem Kumar revealed that his next film would mostly be a sequel to '96.

Despite his initial reluctance, the director has finally made a decision to pursue a sequel because of the love and reaction the movie has garnered from viewers over the years.