Nandalala is loosely based on the 1999 Japanese film Kikujiro, and partly inspired by Myshkin's life.
Myshkin began developing Nandalala in 2006, penning the scriptment for eight months.Supposed to be filmed after the release of Myshkin's debut film Chithiram Pesuthadi (2006), Nandalala was shelved since no producer came forward to fund the film.AM Ratnam was initially supposed to produce the film, with his son Ravi Krishna playing the lead role.Despite completing a photo shoot with Ravi Krishna, the film was shelved, since Ratnam opted out, after he incurred heavy losses with his previous productions.Director Saran was subsequently approached by Myshkin to produce the film, but as he suggested some changes, which Myshkin didn't agree to, the project was dropped again.Myshkin decided to postpone the project, since 'nobody was interested', and instead wrote a new story and commenced a new project, Anjathe, which itself was a result of Myshkin's anger.Myshkin later revealed, that in spite of demands from the producers, he didn't make any compromises in this film, in contrast to his previous ventures, as Nandhalala was his 'dream project'Myshkin re-commenced Nandalala in 2008, taking up the lead role himself, after several lead actors from the industry had rejected the offer, fearing 'their image would get damaged.'For the seven-year-old schoolboy character, newcomer Ashwath Ram was selected, after over 100 children were auditioned.Nandhalala was initially Snigdha's debut Tamil film, for which Myshkin had signed her in 2006 already, but with the film getting postponed, she made her first appearance in Anjathe.Nandalala was shot in 81 days, with major portions being shot on highways and roads in Chennai and Gobichettipalayam.Ilaiyaraaja's album features 6 tracks while, only two of them were included in the final cut of the film.The sixth song in the album 'Elilea Elilea' was written and sung by a gypsy woman called Saroja Ammal in her mother tongue.Myshkin later stated that he had requested Ilaiyaraaja to come up with a music that should be 'enjoyed and appreciated by the likes of a hunter in an African cave'.Ilaiyaraaja, hence, composed a 'minimalized' score and had written a symphony, using only 3 instruments, a flute, an oboe and a violin.Three specialized Hungarian artists from the Budapest Festival Orchestra were invited to Chennai to perform the symphony for the film.The film was made on a budget of 3.5 crore.The film got stuck in development hell for almost an year, with no distributors willing to release the film. Finally Ayngaran released the film one-a-half years after its completion.