Annamalai was a remake of the 1987 Jeetendra-starrer Khudgarz, which itself was based on Jeffrey Archer's novel Kane and Abel.
Annaamalai was launched with director Vasanth, who later opted out due to personal reasons. Suresh Krissna replaced him as director, and also contributed to the screenplay.Actor Shanmugasundaram wrote the dialogues for the film.The film was shot in 45 days straight.The score and soundtrack were composed by Deva and lyrics for all songs were written by Vairamuthu.Although the film's opening was threatened due to a newly established TN government rule where posters of films were prohibited in Chennai, the lack of promos only increased the hype.Annamalai ran for 175 days in theatres and was the highest-grossing film in Tamil cinema until 1995 when the record was broken by Baashha.When the title was announced, some people had misgivings because of the saying 'Annamalaikku Arohara' which has negative connotations; however Balachander refused to change the title.Vasanth has never expanded in his career on why he left the film, maintaining all the while that it was only due to 'personal reasons'Visu claimed he was hired as the director before Vasanth, but due to some contradiction with Rajinikanth, he opted out.Unlike the original Hindi film, Khudgarz, where the rich man was the main character, Rajinikanth's character, the poor man, was made the protagonist in Tamil.Khushbu's character initially had the same name as her, but this was later changed to Subbulakshmi alias 'Subbu'Radha Ravi was very reluctant to play Ashok's father as he had grown weary of playing elderly characters, but agreed to appear in Annaamalai at Rajinikanth's insistence.Pre-production works such as casting and location hunting took place on the day before shooting began.Balachander's wife Rajam and their daughter Pushpa Kandhaswamy received the producer credit.The first scene to be filmed was a comedy scene where Annaamalai would save Ashok, who has been brought to court for a minor offence. Suresh Krissna later removed the scene from the final cut.Suresh Krissna wanted the picturisation of the intro song 'Vanthenda Paalkaaran' to be vibrant and colourful like the songs of Bollywood films, starring Amitabh Bachchan.The scene where Annaamalai shows his face to the camera was extended in slow motion by Krissna as fans would feel as if he was looking towards the audience.'Vanthenda Paalkaaran' was choreographed by Prabhu Deva.The scene where Annaamalai enters a ladies' hostel and gets terrified by a snake was shot at Chakra House, Alwarpet.It was Rajinikanth's idea to keep Kadavule Kadavule (Oh God! Oh God!) as the dialogue for the scene.The title song 'Annaamalai' where the title character and Subbu appear in periodic costumes was shot at the Fernhills Palace, Ooty while the matching shots were shot at Sivaji Gardens.Suresh Krissna shot the song sequence in a technique where the lip sync is perfect while the dance movements being fast, taking inspiration from the song 'Mamavukku Koduma' from Punnagai Mannan.The song 'Vetri Nichayam', which is a montage showing Annamalai's rise to power over the course of several years, was shot in many high-profile spots such as Sea Rock Hotel, Bombay.The scene where Annaamalai and Ashok face off on opposite escalators was shot at the Centaur Hotel in Bombay as no hotel in Madras had escalators then.Annamalai was the first film to feature the introductory 'Super Star' graphic title card, where the words 'SUPER' and 'STAR' form in blue dots on the screen followed by R-A-J-N-I in gold.This idea was conceived by Krissna, who was inspired by the opening gun barrel sequence in the James Bond films, and felt that Rajinikanth, who was becoming a phenomenon, 'warranted a unique logo.'Rajinikanth initially objected to the inclusion of the Super Star title card as he felt it was 'brazen self-aggrandisement' and 'embarrassing.'The final cut of Annaamalai was initially 14,950 feet (4,560 m), at a time when the length of Tamil films was restricted to 14,500 feet (4,400 m), equal to two hours and forty-five minutes.Annaamalai marked Deva's first collaboration with Rajinikanth. Balachander chose him as composer due to a misunderstanding with his usual composer Ilaiyaraaja.'Vanthenda Paalkaaran' was inspired by 'Neenaarigadayo Ele Manava', a Kannada poem by GV Iyer which Rajinikanth had suggested.Vanthenda Paalkaaran's tune is based on the Marathi folk song 'Mee Dolkar Daryacha Raja' (1969).In 1996, the newly-formed Tamil Maanila Congress chose the character Annaamalai's cycle as its official symbol, and won the 1996 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election by a huge margin.Annaamalai was remade into Telugu in 1993 as Kondapalli Raja, and into Kannada in 2003 as Gokarna. Despite its Telugu remake, the film was also dubbed in that language as Birla Ramudu.Annaamalai set multiple trends in Tamil cinema, including a 'mass introduction song for a hero', a 'special background music for the hero', and a poor man's rise to riches during the course of a song.The 'Super Star' graphic title card continued to feature in many of Rajinikanth's later films like Veera (1994), Baashha and Muthu (1995).Annamalai's plot details were parodied in films such as Paarthale Paravasam (2001),[72] Boss Engira Bhaskaran (2010),[73] and Thamizh Padam (2010).Here are a few more memorable snapshots from the movie...