The titular role was initially offered to Ajith Kumar, who rejected the film citing that Bala had not fully developed the story and screenplay before narrating the terms to him.[

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19 Years of Nandha: 19 lesser-known facts about Suriya 's definitive break-out film

As the Bala directorial completes 18 years, we give you some interesting trivia on its making.

Team CE

Updated:8th Nov, 2020 at 4:26 PM

Suriya, who had notably also replaced Ajith Kumar in Nerukku Ner to make his debut, was selected as his replacement.

Interestingly, Suriya had also replaced Ajith in Asathal (Ghajini) and Aaru.

Bala was very particular about casting Sivaji Ganesan in the role of Nandha's mentor, Periyavar.

But, Sivaji's ill-health meant that Raj Kiran was signed up for a role, in a comeback of sorts.

Bala later revealed that Laila was his first and only choice to play a Sri Lankan refugee, Kalyani.

Nandha marked the debut of comedian Karunas.

Nandha was shot by cinematographer Rathnavelu. It was his second film with Bala after Sethu, and fourth film overall.

Rajashree, who debuted as the heroine in Bharathiraja's Karuththamma, played Suriya's mother in the film. It was her first 'mother' character.

The role required Suriya to undergo physical change, so production was delayed until Suriya had finished filming for Friends and Uyirile Kalanthathu.

Post-release, Suriya has stated 'when Nandha happened, everything changed. I became a serious actor, and director Bala instilled in me the discipline to work without committing errors.'

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Sun TV for a record price.

The film was telecast in TV channels during the first week of the film's run, but the film completed a 100-day run.

Nandha has been dubbed and released in Telugu three times, firstly as Aakrosham (2006) and then as Pratheekaram in 2009.

A third dubbed version titled Bala-Surya was released by Nagamalla Shankar in 2011, shortly after the release of Bala's Avan Ivan.

Yuvan's soundtrack features 6 tracks, out of which two were sung by Ilaiyaraaja.

Two songs 'Amma Endrale' and 'Orayiram' are based on the raaga Pantuvarali.

The lyrics of five songs were written by five different lyricists, while 'Maayane Andha''s lyrics were derived from the Thiruppavai written and sung by Aandaal.

The lyrics from 'Kalli Adi Kalli' were written by Thamarai.

'Mun Paniyaa' and 'Or Aayiram Yaanai' were penned by Pazhani Bharathi and Na Muthukumar.