The film was originally announced, provisionally after the release of the Bollywood film, "" – which was a remake of the 1978 film of the same name. Also from the 1978 version, a remake was made in 1980 in Tamil, called "Billa". 2007's "Billa" drew inspirations from these three versions. Suresh Balaji, who had acted in the earliest version of "Billa", acquired the rights to produce the film. It became the second Tamil film to be remade from the 1978 version, after "Naan Avanillai".