After his film Aadhi in January 2006, for nearly six months Vijay was listening to stories, but none had appealed; he was supposed to do a Tamil version of Dharani's Bangaram, until that film's failure made him look at other options. That's when he got to watch the Telugu Pokiri - he felt that it would work.
Remake of Telugu movie pokiri acted by Mahesh babu in the lead role
The first day of shoot for the film was held at the new Pillayar Kovil at AVM studios, with various dignitaries gracing the occasion. Vijay's mother Shobha Chandrasekhar gave the clap for the first shot. The first scene shot was with Asin and Vijay, the lead pair in the film, in an elevator that was specially designed for the film.
Prabhu Devaa did a few changes from the Telugu version which he retained in the Hindi version Wanted.