Kabadadaari

• Sibi Sathyaraj as Shakti, Traffic cop
• Nandita Swetha as Swathi, daughter of Kumar
• Nassar as Ranjan, Retired cop
• Jayaprakash as Kumar/Rayudu
• Suman Ranganathan as Ramya, actress
• Sampath Maitreya as Fernandez/Minjur Ranganathan
• Pradeep Krishnamoorthy as Henchmen of Minjur Ranganathan
• J. Satish Kumar as Suresh
• Yazar as Young Rayudu

Producer G. Dhananjayan acquired the remake rights of Kavaludaari in early April 2019.[14] On 23 August 2019, it was reported that Sibi Sathyaraj will be playing the lead role, along with his father Sathyaraj.[15] The film was reported to be helmed by Pradeep Krishnamoorthy, whom Sibi worked with him in Sathya (2017).[16] It was later announced that Sathyaraj will not be seen in the film, whereas Nandita Swetha, Nassar and Jayaprakash was added to the cast.[10][11] On 23 October 2019,[5] the makers announced the title of the film as Kabadadaari.[6][7][8]

Principal photography began on 1 November 2019, and was reported to be wrapped up within 65 working days. Director Pradeep Krishnamoorthy makes his acting debut in this film.[17][13] On November 2019, it was announced that the film will be simultaneously made in Telugu as Kapatadhaari,[18] with Sumanth reprising the role.[4]

The post-production activities of the film came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 11 May 2020, the makers resumed the dubbing portions of the film, thus, becoming the first film to resume the dubbing, following the safety guidelines imposed by the government.[19][20] Producer Dhananjayan thanked Nassar on Twitter that he agreed to reduce from that salary by 15% and completed the dubbing.[21][22] Production of film was delayed due to COVID-19 for almost 200 days and finally wrapped on 30 September 2020. This delay cost the producer over ₹1 crore through interest and other costs.[23][24]

The music is composed by Simon K. King, continuing his association with Sibi Sathyaraj and Pradeep Krishnamoorthy, after Sathya (2017). The audio rights of the film were purchased by Aditya Music.[25] The film's first song "Hayakki Baby" was released on 11 December 2020.[26] It was sung by Sanah Moidutty, with lyrics written by Ku. Karthik, with English lyrics and rap verses were written and sung by Krishan Maheson.[27]

The film's soundtrack features four songs written by the composer himself, along with Ku. Karthik and Arun Bharathi. It was released on 18 January 2021, at an audio release event held in Chennai.[28] For the Telugu version of the film title Kapatadhaari, Simon was retained as the composer, and reused the same soundtrack for the film with lyrics by Vanamali.[29]

It was initially scheduled to be released in May 2020,[4][30] but was posponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On mid-September 2020, producer Dhananjayan, announced that the film was scheduled for a theatrical release in November, and refuted rumours of releasing on over-the-top media service.[31] After the reopening of theatres across Tamil Nadu, with restrictions of 50% occupancy, Kabadadhaari was scheduled for a theatrical release on 25 December 2020,[32] simultaneously along with its Telugu version, but was postponed due to various reasons.[33] It was released on 28 January 2021, coinciding with the occasion of Thaipusam.[34]