Cheran first began work on "Autograph" in October 2000 with Prabhu Deva and then Vikram cast, though the actors later opted out as a result of schedule clashes. In early 2002, Cheran announced that he was going to instead make a film titled "Pokkisham" and Kanika would star alongside him. However he failed to find a financier and moved back to making "Autograph". As producers were unwilling to finance the film, Cheran opted to produce and star in the film himself and the film consequently took over a year to make. "Autograph" told the story of a man named Senthil, presented in four stages of his life – at school, college, work and during his marriage, and Cheran called the film "semi-autobiographical". The film starred him alongside Sneha, Gopika, Mallika and Kaniha, and had a popular soundtrack composed by Bharathwaj. Four different cinematographers worked on the film; Ravi Varman had shot the school episode in Senthil's early life with a 35 mm lens, Vijay Milton shot the Kerala scenes, Dwaraknath shot the Chennai episode with a steady cam and Shanky Mahendran shot the "'live' part" of the film when the camera uses the point of view of Senthil's character.