Anniyan what he perceives as social ills resulting from typical governmental inertia." In an interview with "The Hindu", Shankar elaborated on the message he conveys through the film: Following the release of the trailer on 7 May 2005, the film was believed to be inspired by the 1886 Robert Louis Stevenson novel, "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde". Upon the film release, "The Hindu" drew parallels between it and the 1998 novel "Tell Me Your Dreams" by Sidney Sheldon. Shankar denied that the film was inspired by "Tell Me Your Dreams", claiming that he knew of the novel only
Robert Louis Stevenson damn about you in the world. Stevenson was visiting a cousin in England in late 1873 when he met two people who became very important to him: Sidney Colvin and Fanny (Frances Jane) Sitwell. Sitwell was a 34-year-old woman with a son, who was separated from her husband. She attracted the devotion of many who met her, including Colvin, who married her in 1901. Stevenson was also drawn to her, and they kept up a heated correspondence over several years in which he wavered between the role of a suitor and a son (he addressed her as "Madonna"). Colvin became