Pazhani was released on 14 January 1965.[1] T. M. Ramachandran in Sport and Pastime wrote, "The slow pace at which the story progresses takes away much from the film’s quality and appeal but one cannot, while making a true art film, avoid this in depicting the humdrum life of a peasant and his family".[7] The film received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil under the Certificate of Merit category.[8]