[3] The film stars debutantes Ponvel M., Raghul R., Kalaiyarasan and Nikhila Vimal in the lead roles, alongside J. Satish Kumar, Dhivya Duraisamy, Karnan Janaki and Nivedita Rajappan.

[9] In mid-1998, in the village of Karungulam, southern Tamil Nadu, the primary occupation is harvesting raw banana bunches and transporting them to lorries, for which a meager payment of Rs.

The humiliation and his mother's tears prompt Sivanaindhan to promise that he would work without hesitation during the ten-day half-yearly exam holidays to pay off debts.

However, he can't confront his mother and unwillingly goes for lugging with his sister, Vembu, but convinces her and escapes from the crowded lorry to attend the dance practice with an empty stomach.

When he wakes up, he finds the entire village in mourning, with around nineteen corpses, including those of Vembu, Kani, Sekar, and Muthuraj, who died in a lorry accident while transporting bananas.

Sivanaindhan, weakened and hungry, sneaks into his house to eat but is caught by his mother, who tearfully blames herself for his hunger, and his sufferings and laments over the loss of her daughter.

The screen cuts to an archived newspaper article from Dinathanthi, reporting the death of twenty plantain farm workers near Srivaikundam, who were buried alive under bananas loaded in the lorry when it overturned.

[12][13] The soundtrack and film score is composed by Santhosh Narayanan, in his third collaboration with Mari Selvaraj after Pariyerum Perumal and Karnan.The first single titled, "Thenkizhakku" was released on 18 July 2024.

[20] The satellite rights were acquired by Vijay TV and was premiered on Disney+ Hotstar on 11 October 2024 in Tamil, alongside Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, and Marathi languages.

"[23] Haricharan Pudipeddi of The South First gave 4/5 stars and wrote, "Vaazhai, which is easily Mari Selvaraj’s best work, is a piece of art and there are no second thoughts about it".

[25] Anusha Sundar of OTTplay gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Vaazhai is a delightful deviation that Mari Selvaraj took after making his previous films.

High on quality, and beautifully emoted characters, Vaazhai easily becomes one of the best Tamil films to have come out in 2024, and stands tall in Mari Selvaraj’s filmography".

[26] In his review for The Hindu, Bhuvanesh Chandar praised the film as a masterpiece writing,"Everything in Mari’s world of Vaazhai is meticulously-crafted from life, and at its centre is Mari himself, an inspired, fictionalised version — as Sivanaindhan a.k.a Sivanenjam (Ponvel in a performance worthy of national glory), who lives in the village of Karunkulam with his sister Vembu (Dhivya Duraisamy) and mother (Janaki).

Sivanaindhan is petrified of the weekends, as he has to join fellow community members to carry heaps of plantain at a plantation, an assignment he would avoid even by impaling his foot with a thorn to get excused.

"[28] Writing for the Deccan Herald, Guruprasad D N rated the film 4/5 praising Mari Selvaraj's direction and the performances of the lead actors, particularly Ponvel.

[29] Describing the film as Mari Selvaraj's most tender and deeply affecting tale yet, Narayani.M of Cinema Express gave a positive review mentioning,"The banana plant is renowned for its all-round utility, from stem to leaf.