ðə fˈɪlm wʌz əfˈɪʃəli ɐnˈaʊnst ˌɔn ˈeɪt noʊvˈɛmbɚ tˈuː θˈaʊzənd fˈoːɹ, wˌɛɹ hˈɑːsən ɹᵻvˈiːld ðætðə fˈɪlm wʊd biː mˌeɪd ɪn tˈæmɪl ænd hˈɪndi, wɪððə fˈɔːɹmɚ vˈɜːʒən ˈɔːlsoʊ fˈiːtʃɚɹɪŋ nˈæsɑːɹ, pæsˈuːpəθi ænd vˈeɪjɐpjˌʊɹɹi wˌaɪl ðə lˈæɾɚ wʊd ɪŋklˈuːd mˈæhɛʃ mˈændʒɹɪkˌɑːɹ, ˈɑːm pjˈʊɹɹi ænd sˈɔːɹæb ʃˈʌklə ɪn ɪts kˈæst.
The film was officially announced on 8 November 2004, where Haasan revealed that the film would be made in Tamil and Hindi, with the former version also featuring Nassar, Pasupathy and Vaiyapuri while the latter would include Mahesh Manjrekar, Om Puri and Saurabh Shukla in its cast.