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
Thomas Stevenson Edinburgh on 8 May 1887 and is buried in the Stevenson family vault in New Calton Cemetery. The vault lies midway along the eastern wall. He was brother of the lighthouse engineers Alan and David Stevenson, between 1854 and 1886 he designed many lighthouses, with his brother David, and then with David's son David Alan Stevenson. He married Margaret Isabella "Maggie" Balfour in 1848, daughter of Rev Lewis Balfour. Their son was the writer Robert Louis Stevenson, who caused him much disappointment by failing to follow the engineering interests of his family. His wife's younger brother, James Melville Balfour (i.e.