The OM Chapter 1 trailer is finally out, and it gives audiences their first full look at one of the biggest Tamil films of the year. The official trailer landed late on 13 November 2026, hours after its announced 7 pm slot, exactly a week before the film reaches cinemas worldwide on 20 November 2026. The OM Chapter 1 trailer brings Dhanush and Mammootty together on screen for the first time, and fan reaction videos began appearing within hours of it going live.
Image Credit: Divo Music / Wunderbar Films — Official Trailer/Poster via YouTube
For weeks, the trailer was the most-asked-about part of the film’s campaign. Character glimpses had introduced each of the leads one by one, a song had already crossed 1.8 crore views, and the audio launch had filled an entire engineering college auditorium. What was missing was the full picture — how Dhanush, Mammootty and Sai Pallavi actually collide in the story. That picture is now out, and it is built around a single word: Udhiram, the blood wood.
The OM Chapter 1 Trailer Arrives a Week Before Release
Wunderbar Films confirmed the trailer date on 12 November with a new poster and a short message on social media: “Not just another frame. A whole new game — get ready for the #OM Trailer from tomorrow! The excitement in theatres is just 8 days away.” The poster showed Dhanush in a blood-stained outfit, holding a camera, against a red and dark blue background, with the faces of Mammootty and Sai Pallavi partially visible behind him, separated by horizontal strips. A countdown element on the artwork pointed to the trailer, and the poster also carried the film’s release date, 20 November.
Trade trackers had earlier reported that the trailer might arrive on 15 November, only five days before release. The official announcement settled the question in favour of 13 November, giving the trailer a full week to travel before the film opens. That timing matters: the OM Chapter 1 trailer is the first piece of footage that shows the three leads in the same story, and a week of conversation is exactly what a film of this scale needs before opening day.
What the Trailer Shows: Operation OM and the Red Sanders World
The OM Chapter 1 trailer opens up the world the glimpses only hinted at — the illegal trade in red sanders, the restricted and highly valuable sandalwood found in parts of Andhra Pradesh, and the operation launched to stop it. At the centre of that operation is Sai Pallavi’s officer Nithya Reddy, who names the mission OM and sets out to protect nature from the smuggling syndicates stripping it bare.
The trailer also gives the clearest look yet at the film’s scale. This is a story that moves between forests, border checkposts and the corridors of power, and the footage leans into that sweep: dense green terrain, convoys moving at night, and a hunt that keeps crossing state lines. Dhanush and Mammootty appear on opposite sides of that hunt, and the trailer’s job is to make the audience wonder how long they stay on opposite sides.
Dhanush and Mammootty Share the Screen for the First Time
The headline of this film has never changed: Dhanush and Mammootty, two of South Indian cinema’s biggest stars, are sharing the screen for the first time. The OM Chapter 1 trailer is the first footage that lets audiences see that pairing in motion rather than in separate posters and glimpses.
Dhanush plays a woodcutter who is drawn into the illegal trade, according to reports in Hindustan Times Tamil — a man who knows the forest and its people, and who finds himself caught between the smugglers and the officers hunting them. Mammootty plays Burma Karthikeyan, also referred to in reports as Karthikeya and as Siya, a figure powerful enough that international officials are shown issuing a notice in search of a member of his organised crime network. His character glimpse, released on his seventy-fifth birthday, showed him in several avatars, including that of a politician, with Dhanush just a step behind him in a stylish entrance.
That contrast is the engine of the film: a man of the forest against a man who controls the trade that runs through it. The trailer keeps their confrontation simmering rather than spelling it out, which is a sensible choice with a week still to go before release.
Sai Pallavi Leads the Hunt as IPS Officer Nithya Reddy
If the Dhanush-Mammootty pairing is the film’s headline, Sai Pallavi’s role is its spine. The OM Chapter 1 trailer puts her officer, IPS Nithya Reddy, at the front of the mission against the red sanders syndicates — and it is a first for the actor, who has never played a police officer on screen before.
Nithya Reddy begins as an Assistant Superintendent of Police in the Andhra Pradesh cadre and rises to Additional Superintendent of Police in the Central Bureau of Investigation, working with Interpol. She follows in her father’s footsteps: her father, an Indian Forest Service officer based in Naidupet in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district, was killed while performing his duties. That loss is the personal engine behind her mission, and the trailer leans on it — Nithya is not just doing a job, she is finishing something her father started.
The makers introduced her with a special glimpse titled “OM Special Duty” on 26 October 2026, a one-minute-and-42-second clip that showed Nithya in uniform, naming the operation OM and setting out to preserve and protect nature. The trailer now takes that introduction and places it inside the full story, with Nithya leading the hunt while Dhanush and Mammootty circle each other.
The Story Behind Udhiram: The Blood Wood
The film’s full title, OM: Chapter 1 — Udhiram: The Blood Wood, is itself a clue to the story. Udhiram is the Tamil word for the blood wood, and the blood wood is red sanders — a restricted variety of sandalwood that grows in parts of Andhra Pradesh and commands huge prices on the illegal market. Smuggling it has built empires and destroyed forests, and the film is built around the people on both sides of that trade.
That framing gives the action thriller something most films in the genre skip: a reason beyond the chase. Nithya’s mission is explicitly about protecting Mother Nature, and the film keeps returning to the forest itself — the trees, the people who live off them, and the price of cutting them down. It is the kind of story that works best on the big screen, which is why the makers have kept it as a theatrical release rather than splitting it across platforms.
The film is also planned as the first instalment of a two-part franchise, so the trailer is careful to open questions it does not answer. Chapter 1 sets up the world, the mission and the collision between its three leads; what happens after that is being kept for the second part.
Cast, Crew and Music
OM: Chapter 1 is directed by Rajkumar Periasamy, who previously directed Amaran (2024) with Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi. OM is his second collaboration with Sai Pallavi.
The film is produced by Shraddha Agrawal, Dhanush and Azmat Jagmag, under the banners of Wunderbar Films and RTake Studios. Sreyas Srinivasan and Sandesh Agrawal are co-producers, and Vishu Ramaswamy is the creative producer. The music is composed by Sai Abhyankkar, whose song “Veezha Veera” from the film has already crossed 1.8 crore views on YouTube.
The cast around the three leads is strong. Sreeleela plays a pivotal role as Dhanush’s love interest, veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah makes his Tamil debut in the film, and Indrans and Sanjay Swaroop are part of the ensemble. The film will release in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, which is why the trailer has been awaited across all three languages.
From 16 October to 20 November: Why the Date Moved
OM: Chapter 1 was originally scheduled to release on 16 October 2026. Dhanush himself confirmed the postponement, explaining that the makers wanted to avoid a box-office clash with Jailer 2 and with Suriya’s Scene, which released on 6 November 2026. The new date, 20 November 2026, gives the film a clear week of its own after the trailer and a clear run into the rest of the month.
The postponement also gave the campaign room to breathe. The character glimpses rolled out one by one, the audio launch filled a college auditorium in Chennai, and the trailer now arrives with a week of build-up still to come. For a film that depends on word of mouth as much as on star power, that extra month may prove to be the smartest decision the makers took.
The Audio Launch and Dhanush’s Apology
The film’s audio launch was held on 6 November 2026 at Sairam Engineering College in Chennai, with Dhanush, Mammootty, Sai Pallavi, Sreeleela, director Rajkumar Periasamy, producer Shraddha Agrawal and composer Sai Abhyankkar all in attendance. Thousands of fans gathered at the venue, but as the crowd swelled and the auditorium reached capacity, several fans who held valid entry passes were turned away and had to leave.
Dhanush addressed the issue on his X handle the same day, writing in Tamil: “It pains me deeply that thousands of fans who had tickets in hand were unable to get in and had to turn back.” He said he did not wish to investigate whose fault it was, took full responsibility himself, and promised it would not happen again. The episode, reported by Cinema Express and the news agency IANS on 7 November, showed how large the film’s following already is — large enough to overflow a college auditorium a full two weeks before release.
What to Watch For Next
With the OM Chapter 1 trailer now out, the final week of the campaign will be about bookings and early reactions. Advance bookings usually open a few days before release, and the first shows on 20 November will tell the makers whether the trailer’s promise has landed. The film opens worldwide in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, and the opening weekend will be watched closely: this is the first time Dhanush and Mammootty have shared a screen, and it is the biggest test yet of Rajkumar Periasamy’s run after Amaran.
For now, the trailer does the talking. A first-time pairing, a forest worth fighting for, and an officer with a personal score to settle — OM: Chapter 1 has put all three on the table, and the audience has a week to decide how much it wants to see them collide.
Frequently asked questions
When is the OM Chapter 1 trailer out?
The OM Chapter 1 trailer went live late on 13 November 2026 on Divo Music’s official YouTube channel, a week before the film’s theatrical release. It had been announced for 7 pm that evening but arrived hours later.
When does OM Chapter 1 release in cinemas?
OM: Chapter 1 — Udhiram: The Blood Wood releases in cinemas worldwide on 20 November 2026, in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.
Who stars in OM Chapter 1?
Dhanush and Mammootty headline the film, with Sai Pallavi as IPS officer Nithya Reddy, Sreeleela in a pivotal role, and Naseeruddin Shah making his Tamil debut. Indrans and Sanjay Swaroop are also part of the cast.
Who directed OM Chapter 1?
Rajkumar Periasamy, who previously directed Amaran (2024), directed OM: Chapter 1. He also wrote the film.
What is OM Chapter 1 about?
The film follows Operation OM, a mission led by CBI officer Nithya Reddy against the illegal smuggling of red sanders, the valuable sandalwood known as the blood wood, in Andhra Pradesh.
Will OM Chapter 1 release in Hindi?
Yes. The film releases in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi on 20 November 2026.
Image Credit: Divo Music / Wunderbar Films — Official Trailer/Poster via YouTube
