Development After completing the work on
Jeeva (2014),
Suseenthiran collaborated with
Vishal after
Pandiya Naadu (2013) for a film whose script work began in mid August 2014. The technical crew of
Jeeva were planned to be retained for this film. However, cinematographer
R. Madhi was replaced by
Velraj as the former failed to allot callsheets after being signed as the cinematographer of
Srimanthudu (2015). Suseenthiran said in an interview that this was the first script he worked on typically to suit an actor's image. The film, produced under the banner
Vishal Film Factory, was said to be on the lines of
Pandiya Naadu.
Vendhar Movies was later confirmed to bankroll the film whose production was scheduled to begin after the release of Vishal's
Aambala (2015). Talking about the film's concept, Suseenthiran said that "if someone offends a normal guy, he would definitely retaliate then think about a police officer, who gets affected and offended" forms the major crux of the film. In March 2015, lyricist
Vairamuthu confirmed
Kaaval Kottam as the film's title and
Madurai was chosen as the film's backdrop. Shortly, the film's title was rechristened as
Paayum Puli after the 1983 Tamil film of the
same name. The same was announced by the makers through the official Twitter page on 25 March 2015. Regarding the title selection, Vishal told in an interview that being an action film, he and Suseenthiran found
Paayum Puli apt for the film and approached its owner A. V. M. Balasubramaniam for his consent before declaring the title officially.
Anthony and
Rajeevan were signed as the editor and art director respectively.
Anal Arasu and Shobi choreographed the action sequences and the songs respectively. Filmmaker R. S. Amudeshwar wrote the film's dialogues.
Paayum Puli was made on a budget of around 250 million. This was the third time in his career where he was seen playing a police. After holding talks with
Shruti Haasan for the female lead role, the makers chose
Lakshmi Menon, the female lead of
Pandiya Naadu, in mid September 2014. Vishal said that this decision was taken considering the scope of the character and also since Suseenthiran wanted an actress who can understand Tamil well. Menon later expressed her inability to allot callsheets till April 2015 due to her
Twelfth grade examinations and eventually,
Kajal Aggarwal replaced her as the film's female lead in early December 2014 marking her first collaboration with Vishal and second with Suseenthiran after
Naan Mahaan Alla (2010). Kajal played the role of Soumya, a girl owning a
plant nursery who is scared of everything, including small things such as crossing the roads. her character is afraid of even small things due to which she could not relate to the character. Aishwarya Dutta was signed to play Kajal's sister in the film. Though
Samuthirakani was initially reported to play the film's antagonist, Vishal later clarified that he would be seen as his brother in the film.
Harish Uthaman, one of the antagonists of
Pandiya Naadu, was signed to play a brief role of a young policeman reportedly inspired by the real life of Sub inspector Alwin Sudhan, who was killed by a gang in
Tamil Nadu in 2012.
Soori,
Jayaprakash,
Murali Sharma and
Anandaraj were signed to play supporting roles in the film. Art director Kiran told IANS in late May 2015 that he would be seen as one of the antagonists in the film.
Sharath Lohitashwa, who collaborated with Suseenthiran for
Pandiya Naadu, and Narasimhan, who was a part of the cast of
Kutti Puli (2013), were signed as the other two antagonists apart from Kiran.
Prinz Nithik was signed to play the role of one of the gangsters in the film.
Filming After a small delay due to last minute scripting issues, the film's
principal photography commenced on 4 March 2015 at a house set in
Chennai where
Senthoora Poove (1988) was significantly shot. Few portions of the film were shot at the
Avadi military camp in early April 2015. Vishal and Soori along with a few fighters participated in a fight sequence in a mill near
Sithalapakkam in late April 2015. By 21 April 2015, 40 days of shooting was completed which covered close to 60% of the film. It included some talkie portions, a song, and a fight sequence. The film's unit camped in
Madurai for 35 days starting from mid-May 2015 and Suseenthiran revealed that the entire filming process except for three songs would be completed with that schedule. Nikita Thukral's item number was shot in
Binny Mills in Chennai, which was choreographed by Shobi and filmed for over five days. The climax stunt sequences were shot in mid May 2015 which Vishal termed as one of the toughest ones in Suseenthiran's films. In late June 2015, a folk song sequence was shot on Vishal, Kajal and others at
Karaikudi and its surrounding locations for three days. Days later, a romantic song was shot on Vishal and Kajal at
Pollachi and its surrounding locales. Upon its completion, the film's unit filmed a few talkie portions at the
East Coast Road in Chennai. The last song of the film was shot near
Mahabalipuram for four days commencing from 26 June 2015. Vishal gifted 300 gold coins to the film's unit after the principal photography was wrapped up on 1 July 2015. The shooting was culminated with the traditional pumpkin breaking ritual on 4 July 2015. According to Vishal,
Paayum Puli was shot in 75 working days. == Music ==