 Ramachandran wanted his frequent co-star Jayalalithaa for the female lead while Veerappan wanted to include someone else.The result went in Veerappan's favour and Manjula was cast, thereby making her debut as a lead actress.According to Jayalalithaa's biographer P. C. Ganesan, Veerappan disliked Jayalalithaa's proximity to Ramachandran and, being a shrewd schemer, he successfully persuaded Ramachandran that his "fans were fed up with MGR-Jayalalitha pair"; Ramachandran, not wanting to risk losing his popularity, gave in to Veerappan's suggestion.