In mid February 2014 , the team carried out make up tests involving Kamal Haasan in Bangalore with a photo shoot being held with the actor . Principal photography began on 3 March 2014 . The team then shot for two weeks in Bangalore , before moving on to film sequences in Chennai with Gouthami joining the team as a costume designer . In early April , parts of the film were shot in Madhya Pradesh before the team returned to Bangalore to film scenes involving Parvathy Nair and Ashwin . Further scenes involving Kamal Haasan in the role of a star actor were filmed at a shopping mall in Bangalore , with several hundred onlookers used as extras . Posters from a fictional film in the plot , '' Veera Vilaiyaatu '' , were put up around the mall by the film 's art direction team . After initially planning a trip to Australia to film the songs from the soundtrack , the team later opted to fly to Turkey instead . Many scenes in the film , including a song featuring Kamal Haasan and Pooja Kumar was consequently shot in Istanbul . The cast performed night rehearsals to get their expressions and dialogues right . The portions featuring Kamal Haasan as an aging superstar were completed with the shoot of the song . The 21st century portions were completed by mid-May 2014 . In between , Kamal Haasan took a break from the shoot to attend the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and to inaugurate the Indian Pavilion there . Another schedule was started on 21 May 2014 in Madhya Pradesh and then Chennai , with the team filming scenes that take place in the 8th century . In early June 2014 , Andrea had completed her portions in the film . Kamal Haasan sustained a small muscle pull during the film 's shooting and was advised a day 's rest . The majority of the film 's portions were shot by the end of July , with only patchwork and dubbing left . On 9 August 2014 , Ramesh Aravind confirmed on his Twitter account that the shooting of the film had been completed with a song sequence which would feature in the 8th century segment of the film
2014 Cannes Film Festival
2014 Cannes Film Festival
Uttama Villain