Following the success of '' Kumki '' , Prabhu Solomon took a break and went on a recce to the coastal South Indian town of Nagapattinam to get inspired for a story set on the backdrop of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami . He gathered real-life stories of survival and intertwined them into his script . The film was announced at a launch event at Leela Palace on 11 September 2013 with Prabhu Solomon announcing a fresh cast while revealing D. Imman would be composer and a debutant Vetrivel Mahendran would be cinematographer . Chandran was cast after sending his pictures to Prabhu Solomon , unaware if it was for the lead role . He got a reply the following day confirming he would be the lead actor , and subsequently lost fifteen kilograms to fit the character . Telugu actress Rakshita was rechristened as Anandhi for the film , and was selected after auditioning twice before impressing Solomon . The shoot of the film commenced in Ponneri in September 2013 and the team announced that scenes would be shot all across India including scenes at Kanyakumari and Ladakh . Scenes were shot for several days underwater , with the team often doing up to ten hours a day in knee-length depths of water . The film completed shoot after 85 days in May 2014 , with the director announcing that post-production would be extensive as a result of impending VFX works . After filming finished , Prabhu Solomon revealed that the film 's climax would show the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and noted that the film would be dedicated to victim 's families
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
Kayal (film)