been digitally removed. In some TV broadcasts, this sequence was omitted due to the violence. In some behind-the-scenes interview, the original film had Sethu being banged on the head multiple times before being thrown on top of the rock. Also this film had a similarities of Malayalam Novel Iruttinte Athmavu (1967), written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair Casting Bala first offered the film's lead role to his housemate Vignesh, who did not accept. He then offered the lead role to actor J. D. Chakravarthy who liked the script but was unable to sign the film as he was busy with another project. Murali was then also considered for the lead role in the project, but did not sign up. Finally in 1997, Bala gave the role of Sethu to his friend, then struggling actor Vikram. Keerthi Reddy was initially signed on to play the lead female role, but was later replaced by Rajshri and then subsequently Abitha. To prepare for the character, Vikram shaved his head, thinned down to half his size by losing 21 kilograms and grew out his nails and even exposed himself under the sun for hours for skin darkening as the script demanded it. Vikram lived off fruit juice for six months, and once he lost the desired weight, he maintained the look by subsisting on a scanty diet: an egg white, one glass of beetroot or carrot juice and a single dry chapatti through the day. Bala did not want Vikram to accept any other offers during this period to maintain the continuity of his looks and asked him to cease working as a dubbing artist. The film's launch was held in April 1997, and production lasted close to two years as the film languished in development hell. The FEFSI strike of 1997 halted filming across the Tamil film industry from June to December 1997, and as a small budget film, Sethu was unable to progress during the period. Filming When the strike was called off, the producer left the project and Vikram and Bala's assistant, Ameer, pled with the producer to return, with filming resuming in January 1998. After further slow progression, the film was finally completed in June 1999. M. S. Bhaskar lent his voice for S. S. Raman who appeared as a temple priest in this film. Rathnavelu, who worked as a cameraman, said he gave the asylum scenes a predominantly green