Origin After making a series of action films, Gautham Vasudev Menon actively chose to make an "out and out love story" at the insistence of his close associates, and marked a return to the genre for the first time since
Minnale (2001). Initially titled
Vennilavae Vennillavae, inspired by the title of a song from
Minsara Kanavu, Menon started writing the film as a simple love story which slowly became an intense love story, as the scripting phase progressed. Stating that the film would narrate the romantic tale of two people called Karthik and Jessie over a period of almost three years, he revealed that the film would be "conversation driven" and hoped "everybody will identify with the lead pair". Menon took the script to producer
Manjula Ghattamaneni, who asked him to narrate the film to her brother
Mahesh Babu and the movie was a
Tamil and
Telugu bilingual. Menon initially felt that the film would not suit the actor, but later agreed preliminary terms to make it in Telugu titled
Jessie with the actor and have
A. R. Rahman as the music composer, as he was impressed with the story.
Development Continuing from the earlier proposed theme of
Vennilavae Vennillavae, Menon later chose to use the second line of the song to title his film as
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, after it was suggested by the cinematographer
Manoj Paramahamsa. Menon discussed a Tamil and Telugu version of the script with several actors including
Dhanush,
Jai and
Allu Arjun who had wanted changes to be made to the climax, and described being "one week away" from starting the project with a debutant actor. But in late January 2009, Menon confirmed that he was in discussions with
Silambarasan and
Trisha to portray the lead roles from the script. After finding out that Silambarasan had dates available as a result of the delay in the shoot of
Vignesh Shivan's
Podaa Podi (2012), Menon chose to halt the production of his ongoing
Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikaalam and finalise pre-production work on
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. Menon added that Silambarasan was "apt for this kind of a film" and was "ready to experiment and try something different" from his usual film roles, prompting him to agree to star in the film. To pique interest before the official announcement, the makers released a series of film posters featuring Silambarasan and Trisha inspired from previous classic Tamil films. The team used posters inspired from
Geethanjali (1989),
Minsara Kanavu (1997),
Dil Se (1998),
Alaipayuthey (2000) and
Kaakha Kaakha (2003). Other members of the technical crew included Menon's regular collaborators editor
Anthony, art director
Rajeevan, costume designer
Nalini Sriram and lyricist
Thamarai. The project was jointly produced by
Escape Artists Motion Pictures and
RS Infotainment, with
Elred Kumar,
Ganesh, Madhan as producers.
Casting For the role of a mentor to Karthik's character, Menon first approached
Vivek, but he turned down the opportunity. Later, one of the film's producers,
Ganesh, was cast in the role, in what later became his breakthrough film as an actor. Chennai-based model
Janani Iyer was recruited to portray the role of an assistant director who falls in love with Karthik, but the role was later reshot with
Samantha, who worked as the lead actress of the film's Telugu version. Janani Iyer was subsequently seen in the background of several scenes where Karthik is shown to be a part of a film production team.
Ashwin Kakumanu also auditioned for the role of Jessy's brother in the film and was selected, but eventually did not feature after having a clash of dates. Singer
Chinmayi dubbed for the lead actresses - Trisha and Samantha in the Tamil and Telugu, respectively.
Filming Scenes were shot in the lakes of
Alappuzha during April 2009 for a month, with the
houseboats doubling up as caravans. In May, the team moved to
Malta to film the song sequences for "Hosanna" and "Omana Penne", choreographed by Flexy Stu. For the particular song sequences in the film, Menon wanted "churches, water and caves" and convinced the producers to finance a trip to Malta, and in the process, the team became the first South Indian film to shoot in the country. Scenes were shot in places including
Valletta,
Mdina,
Gozo and
Comino, as well as in lanes, alleys, eight churches and during the time of a village feast. The makers brought along a crew of twenty-six people to Malta, with ten local workers also helping on the production. The shoot lasted ten days and cost approximately €90,000. In October 2009, the team flew to the
United States to complete the final filming schedule. Scenes were shot throughout locations in
Manhattan and
New Jersey, with particular shots filmed at
Brooklyn Bridge,
Central Park and
Times Square. But 70% of filming took place in
Chennai and
Hyderabad as well. == Soundtrack ==