In the late 1950s, Somu of
Jupiter Pictures thought of remaking
Kannagi (1942) with
Sivaji Ganesan starring as
Kovalan. He screened the film to mentor
C. N. Annadurai who watched it along with
A. S. A. Sami, who was to direct the potential remake. After watching the film, Annadurai told them that remaking the film would not prove successful. The project was dropped, but the idea of making something similar about "a woman, who is chastity personified fighting a relentless battle to win her husband back" remained in Somu's mind, resulting in
Thanga Padhumai. Writers Aru. Ramanathan and Sami wrote the script inspired from the American film
The Egyptian (1954). The producers initially approached
Anjali Devi,
P. Bhanumathi and
Lalitha for the character of Mayamohini for which they did not agree;
T. R. Rajakumari was eventually chosen. Sami recalled that during the lunch break,
Padmini would walk up and down the shooting floor with the script in her hand studying the dialogue over and over and delivering it, giving it different shades of meaning. The film was made on a budget of ₹8 lakh (worth ₹37 crore in 2021 prices). Ganesan and Padmini were paid ₹60,000 each, while Rajakumari was paid mere ₹25,000 as salary. == Soundtrack ==