Maanaadu

Venkat Prabhu initially wanted to collaborate with Silambarasan,[5] which is considered to be Billa 3, the third installment in the Billa film series, came under the news in late 2016.[6] With Prabhu failing to helm the project, because of his ongoing commitments with his directorial Party, Silambarasan decided to direct the film by himself, after a hiatus of nearly ten years, since Vallavan (2006).[7] Simbu decided to revival of his shelved project Kettavan.[8] The project was expected to take place in July 2017,[9] with shooting being held at Mumbai and USA,[10] which also failed to materialise.[11]

In June 2018, producer Suresh Kamatchi of V House Productions,[12] officially confirmed their next venture, with Silambarsan and Venkat Prabhu.[13][14] But however, the project was not considered to be the third installment of Billa, but another fresh script written by Prabhu; rumored to be a gangster film, it was revealed to be an action-thriller instead.[15][16][2] On 9 July 2018, Venkat Prabhu announced the title of the film as Maanadu,[17][18] with a poster release.[19][20] With the film's cast and crew, is likely to be announced yet, it was rumoured that A. R. Rahman is in talks to compose the music and P. C. Sreeram, being roped in as the cinematographer.[21] In January 2019, Raashi Khanna, was in talks to play the female lead,[22] however Kalyani Priyadarshan, who paired up with Sivakarthikeyan in Hero (2019), was later roped in for the film.[23][24] In June 2019, Yuvan Shankar Raja, who is known for his successful collaborations with Simbu and Venkat Prabhu, signed in as the music composer.[25]

In August 2019, producer Suresh Kamatchi announced that he had ousted Silambarasan from the film, owing to the actor's failure to commit to dates properly, although the film had undergone pre-production work for close to a year before Silambarasan's exit.[26] The producer claimed that the film will go on production, with another actor in the lead role, while Silambarasan later chose to launch another new project titled Maghaa Maanaadu immediately after his removal from Maanaadu.[27][28] Suresh Kamatchi, along with several other producers came forward with an official complaint to the Tamil Film Producers Council about Silambarasan's poor punctuality during the same month.[29][30] In November 2019, the producers announced that Simbu comes back to the project after sorting out the issues,[31] and the project was expected to be re-launched.[32][33]

It was reported that Kannada actor Sudeep will play the antagonist role in Maanadu,[34] however the actor refuted his claims.[35] In January 2020, the makers announced the complete cast and crew, which includes S. A. Chandrasekhar, Bharathiraja, Premgi Amaren and Karunakaran,[36] along with cinematographer Richard M. Nathan, editor Praveen K. L., action director Stunt Silva and costume designer Vasuki Bhaskar, being a part of the project.[37] Furthermore, the team also included S. J. Suryah,[38] Manoj Bharathiraja, Daniel Annie Pope and Y. G. Mahendran, to the film's cast.[39][40] Silambarasan was reported to play a Muslim guy in the film,[41] whose character name was revealed as "Abdul Khaaliq" with a poster release, on Simbu's birthday, 3 February 2020.[42]

Principal photography of the film commenced on 19 February 2020,[43] with a customary pooja ceremony being held on Chennai, where the team planned to few scenes in the venue,[44] and move to Hyderabad for a 40-day schedule.[45] Following the accident held on the sets of Indian 2, the producer Suresh Kamatchi, had assured an insurance of ₹30 crores to the film's cast and crew,[46][47] also ensuring the safety of the workers on the film sets.[48] On 27 February 2020, the team moved to VGP Golden Beach at Chennai,[49] for a song shoot featuring Silambarasan, which was choreographed by Raju Sundaram, was being filmed at a huge set, with around 200 dancers from Mumbai and Bangalore.[50]

The team later moved to Ramoji Film City at Hyderabad on 11 March, for the film's second schedule.[51] However, the film council in Hyderabad, declined permission to shoot the film until 19 March for safety reasons, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thus the film's shooting being put on hold.[52] Later the shooting of the film resumed at Pondicherry on 9 November 2020,[53] with Simbu joining the sets, post the completion of his film Eeswaran (2021).[54][55]