The film was officially announced on 14 November 2018, under its working title Thalapathy 63 (referring to Vijay's 63rd film as an actor), and it further marked the third collaboration of Vijay and Atlee after Theri and Mersal. Principal photography for this film commenced on 21 January 2019, where predominantly took place around Chennai, with a minor schedule in Delhi, and ended on 14 August. The film's title Bigil, was announced on 22 June 2019, along with the first look poster.[11] The film has music composed by A. R. Rahman, with cinematography handled by G. K. Vishnu and editing done by Ruben.

Made on a budget of 180 crore,[12] Bigil released theatrically in India on 25 October 2019, coinciding with the occasion of Diwali festival. The film received generally positive response upon release, with Vijay's performance, the message and direction praised, but criticism was aimed at the weak and formulaic first half and excessive length.[13] Bigil emerged as the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019, collecting around ?285–300 crore upon its release,[a] it further became the one of the highest-grossing Tamil film of all time and Vijay's highest-grossing film in his career. The film completed its 100-day theatrical run on 1 February 2020,[15] and also won two awards each at the Zee Cine Awards Tamil, Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards, three Edison Awards and a SIIMA Award.