Iyarkai was was director S.P Jananathan’s debut film.
S. P. Jananathan selected Shaam to be the lead actor in his first film titled Iyarkai after watching his performance in the film 12B before the film had even released.Shaam shot for this film and Girivalam simultaneouslyJananathan later revealed that the reason the backdrop of the sea was chosen was because he was attached to the sea as he 'grew up on the sea shore'.Iyarkai was Radhika Kumaraswamy's debut Tamil film. She was credited as 'Kutty Radhika' in the film.Radhika had already completed 9 films in Kannada while she was chosen to portray Nancy in Iyarkai.Iyarkai - a love story set against the backdrop of a lost ship in the port town of Rameshwaram -is loosely based on Vennira Iravugal, the Tamil translation of Dostoyevsky's White Nights.Dostoyevsky's White Nights was, incidentally, also made in Hindi as SaawariyaJananathan also revealed that Iyarkai was also influenced by his own life as his friend's uncle boat sunk in the Medditeranean Sea and his uncle was never found.Jananathan told the story to Ramkumar Ganesan, whose cousin, Kumar, became the producer after liking the story.Arun Vijay, who was last seen in Pandavar Bhoomi, was roped in to play a cameo as a ship officer. The actor was credited as Arun Kumar in the film.95 % of the film was shot in the Tuticorin harbour.The film was made on a shoe-string budget of 1 crore. Vidyasagar composed the soundtrack.Upon release, the films's cinematographer, Ekambaram, sent the film to the National Awards committee. Much to Jananathan's surprise, Iyarkai won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.This was the first collaboration between Shaam and S.P Jananathan. They would collaborate again for Porambukku Ennum Podhuvudamai which also starred Arya and Vijay Sethupathi.National Award winner Seema Biswas made her Tamil debut with Iyarkai.