OM Trailer: Dhanush goes undercover in the Red Sandalwood mafia, watch

On Friday, the trailer for O.M: Chapter 1, Udhiram: The Blood Wood was released, just a week before its theatrical debut on November 20. The trailer unveils Rajkumar Periasamy's red sandalwood smuggling drama for the first time, featuring Dhanush as a Tamil Nadu Special Task Force officer undercover as a woodcutter within the syndicate.

Sai Pallavi plays IPS officer Nithya Reddy leading Andhra Pradesh's Exclusive Special Task Force, while Mammootty portrays Siya, a mysterious figure controlling the trade from the shadows. The film's setting is primarily in temple towns of Andhra Pradesh's Seshachalam forest region, where illegal red sandalwood trade thrives. Tamil Nadu's Organized Crime Intelligence Unit's Dhanush's character infiltrates the smuggling syndicate to expose the top individuals running it.

The trailer hints at a complex dynamic, as Dhanush appears to clash with the police, leaving the audience questioning the extent of his undercover mission. Sai Pallavi's character heads Operation Mole, which the film's O.M. abbreviation likely stands for. Mammootty's Siya appears to be a politician manipulating the red sandalwood trade behind the scenes.

Red sandalwood, a rare and expensive wood found mainly in Andhra Pradesh's Kadapa district, is highly sought after in China and Japan. The smuggling trade has previously lured numerous laborers from economically disadvantaged Tamil Nadu communities into perilous and sometimes fatal forest work. O.M. was originally set for release on October 16 but was postponed by Dhanush himself, out of respect for Rajinikanth's Jailer 2, which was released on the same day.

The postponement also allowed the film to avoid competing with Suriya's Scene during the Diwali window. Directed by Rajkumar Periasamy, who won the National Award for Best Director for Amaran, O.M. has an ensemble cast including Dhanush, Mammootty, Sai Pallavi, and Sreeleela. Produced by Dhanush, Shraddha Agrawal, and Azmat Jagmag under Wunderbar Films and RTake Studios, the film is set to release worldwide on November 20 in Tamil, with dubbed versions in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada.