Neerali was financed by Santhosh T. Kuruvilla under his company Moonshot Entertainments, and co-produced by Praveen Kattukaran and Mibu Jose Nettikadan. It was written by Saju Thomas. Ajoy Varma makes his directorial debut in Malayalam cinema with this film, having earlier worked as an editor and director in
Bollywood. The then-untitled film was officially announced by lead actor
Mohanlal on 3 October 2017. Filming was said to begin soon after he finished his work in
Odiyan. When asked, Varma told
The Times of India that the film is a "drama-thriller" set in
Mumbai,
Pune, and
Sri Lankan locales, and that
principal photography would take place between December 2017 and January 2018. Mohanlal's character and the rest of the cast was not revealed. The film's title was revealed on 27 January 2018 along with a title poster. Mohanlal was approached for the role right after the scripting was finished. Initially it was announced that south Indian actresses
Meena and
Trisha Krishnan would be playing the female leads but later the casting was changed. Varma offered
Parvatii Nair a role after he spotted her on the sets of
Nimir. She was cast only a few weeks before filming began, and plays an urban character. By the start of filming, only Mohanlal, Parvatii,
Suraj Venjaramoodu,
Sai Kumar, and
Dileesh Pothan were cast. The rest of the cast was filled out as filming progressed. Suraj plays Veerappa, Sunny's chauffeur. Mohanlal and Suraj take up the most screen space in the film.
Nadhiya and
Nassar were cast in February 2018. Nadhiya and Parvatii play two of the film's important female characters. Nadhiya portrays Sunny's wife Molly Kutty.
Megha Mathew confirmed her part in February.
Principal photography began on 9 January 2018 in
Mumbai, India, with
Santosh Thundiyil serving as director of photography. Director
John Matthew Matthan was invited to the first day of filming, and officially performed the switch on of the
movie camera. Filming schedules were planned to meet a May 2018 release date (later postponed). Sandeep Narayan and Arun C. Thampi are the
executive producers. Parvatii was present on the first day of shooting. He allotted 15 days dates for filming. Stunt scenes were choreographed by Sunil Rodriguez. Serena Tixeria was the make-up artist. Costumes were designed by Himanshi Nijhawan, while Udai Prakash Singh oversaw the art department. Nadhiya's scenes were shot in early February after her sudden casting that month. == Music ==