Vimana was released on 27 November 1987. The film was released under different titles for different linguistic regions: its original title Pushpaka Vimana in Karnataka (in the Kannada language), Pushpaka Vimanam in Andhra Pradesh (Telugu), Pushpak () in Hindi-speaking regions, Pesum Padam () in Tamil Nadu (Tamil), and Pushpakvimanam in Kerala (Malayalam). In Andhra Pradesh, it was distributed by Sravanthi Ravi Kishore, in Mumbai by actor Rajendra Kumar, and in Madras by editor A. Mohan. The film was featured in the Indian Panorama section at the 12th International Film Festival of India. Retrospectively it was featured in the Shanghai International Film Festival, and Whistling Woods Film Festival. Reception The film received critical acclaim for its creativity, making and the cast performances. Reviewing Pesum Padam, the magazine Ananda Vikatan said that to make a silent film needs a lot of courage and the filmmaker needs to be congratulated for that, rating it 50 out of 100. N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express said, "For [Kamal Haasan], the film is yet another achievement. For Singeetam, always the bold experimenter [...] Pesum Padam should provide both critical and commercial mileage. It is music director L. Vaidyanathan's task to provide the 'silent' film a worthy musical foil to match its varied moods and needs: this he does with panache." Jayamanmadhan of the magazine Kalki appreciated virtually every aspect of the film, calling it a must watch. Filmmaker Satyajit Ray applauded the film and told Rao, "You have created a love scene around a dead body", referring to the scene where the graduate and the magician's daughter walk around the hotel owner's body during his funeral several times just to spend some time together. Bombay: The City Magazines critic wrote, "Pushpak is a bold and timely reminder that verbal diarrhoea drowns out meaning. Silence is not only golden but eloquent." Though no-one expected the film to succeed, it was a sleeper hit, completing a 35-week theatrical run in Bangalore, and grossing around 1 crore according to estimates by Madhu Jain and Garga. Accolades Legacy Pushpaka Vimana became a landmark of Indian cinema. According to film theorists Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen, it "opened up a new dimension in art-house entertainment", and "helped change [Kamal Haasan's] screen image". Rao has stated that after the film's success, many people wanted him to make more dialogue-less films but he was uninterested, saying, "My fascination was for the first