Development In early April 2021, it was reported that
Trivikram Srinivas, who had successful collaborations with both
Mahesh Babu and
Pooja Hegde after working with the former in
Athadu (2005) and
Khaleja (2010); the latter in
Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava (2018) and
Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020), would collaborate with both Babu and Hegde for his next directorial before his venture with
N. T. Rama Rao Jr. He reportedly had narrated the script before the final script works which impressed the actor and actress and made them agree to work on the venture, in their third respective collaboration with the director. On 1 May, the collaboration of Babu and Trivikram was officially announced, under the
tentative title SSMB28. Production was set to begin in November 2021 as Babu reportedly finished filming by then for
Sarkaru Vaari Paata (2022). Trivikram repeated his norm technicians from
Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava and
Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo: cinematographer
P. S. Vinod, editor
Naveen Nooli, music composer
Thaman S, and art director
A.S. Prakash, were finalised as the technical crew. The film was bankrolled by
S. Radha Krishna, under Haarika & Hassine Creations. A
muhurtam pooja ceremony was held on 3 February 2022 at
Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad with the film's cast and crew. The film was initially promoted as an action thriller. However, after the completion of the first schedule, reports surfaced about conflicts among crew members and the cast. Subsequently, the production of the film was paused, and the script was reworked. After several months of delay, Trivikram presented a new modified script that transformed the film into a family entertainer, departing from the original narrative as an action thriller. The sequences filmed during the first schedule, including fight sequences choreographed by
Anbariv, were intended to be discarded. The shooting recommenced with action sequences as per the modifications done to the script.
Casting Pooja Hegde was initially cast as the lead actress, paired opposite Babu for the second time after
Maharshi (2019) as well as in her third collaboration with director, however due to her schedule conflicts, she opted out from the venture and was subsequently replaced by
Sreeleela. The latter was initially signed on to play the second actress role before Hegde opted out, however after that, Sreeleela took over the lead actress role and the second role was replaced by
Meenakshi Chaudhary. In February 2023,
Ramya Krishna was selected to play a key role in the film. In March,
Prakash Raj joined the cast to play Mahesh Babu's grandfather in the film. Later
Jayaram joined the cast. In April,
Jagapathi Babu was reported to play "a very endearing yet scary" character.
Filming Principal photography commenced on 12 September 2022 with an action sequence in
Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad. was later completed in the same month. However it was later confirmed by the producers that the fight was scrapped. The second schedule was planned to commence after
Dussehra festivities in
Ramoji Film City with Hegde joining the sets. The shooting was then halted with Trivikram making modifications to the script and converted the
action thriller film into a "family entertainer". Hegde joined the sets with filming taking place in Hyderabad. In February, team constructed a house set spending 10 crore at
Shankarpalli,
Telangana in Hyderabad. In March, Jayaram joined the sets. The second schedule was wrapped on 6 April. After shooting more than 50% of the film, the cinematographer of the film, P. S. Vinod, left, owing to creative differences. Following this development,
Manoj Paramahamsa was announced as his replacement for the film. The third schedule began on 24 June. Principal photography
wrapped on 28 December 2023. == Music ==