 In the early 1980s, Kamal Haasan wrote a story titled "Dhayam" for the journal, "Idhayam Pesugiradhu".He had discussed making the story into a film with K. Balachander during the period, but felt that the story was ahead of its time.In 2000, he picked up the story again and agreed to make the film with director Suresh Krissna, a former assistant of Balachander, and producer S. Thanu.