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 syndicated American television series, "Death Valley Days", hosted by Robert Taylor and directed by Denver Pyle. In an earlier "Death Valley Days" episode from 1958, "The Great Amulet", hosted by Stanley Andrews, the actor Don Reardon (died 2004) played the role of Stevenson. In the story line, Stevenson falls in love with Fanny Osbourne, played by Aline Towne (1919-1996), the mother of two children in a loveless marriage in San Francisco. The couple met in France where Stevenson was recuperating from health issues and moved to San Francisco, where Stevenson worked tirelessly despite lingering health matters in the production of