Director Vetrimaaran had last directed the superhit movie Asuran, which had Dhanush and Manju Warrier playing lead roles, and the movie produced by Kalaippuli S Thaanu was based on the acclaimed novel Vekkai written by famous writer Poomani.

After the success of Asuran, Vetrimaaran had announced that his next movie will have comedian Soori playing the lead role, and he had also revealed that this movie will be based on lyricist Naa Muthukumar's Pattampoochi Virpavan poem compilation.

However the latest reports suggest that Vetrimaaran has changed his plan and that this movie with Soori will be based on another popular novel Ajnabi written by Meeran Moideen. This movie is about the lives of Indians who migrate to Arab nations and will be filmed in Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Vetrimaaran's next with Suriya is also based on a novel Vaadivaasal.