It
was
during
the
making
of
Endhiran,
director
Shankar
came
across
Bollywood
blockbuster
3
Idiots.
The
moment
he
saw
the
movie,
the
filmmaker
decided
to
break
his
self-imposed
rule
–
making
only
original
movies
–
by
remaking
the
Hindi
film
to
Tamil.
The
casting
process
begun
on
a
high
note
after
Vijay
gave
nod
to
star
in
the
movie
but
in
a
matter
of
few
weeks
time,
the
Kaavalan
walked
out
of
the
project
due
to
some
differences
with
the
makers
of
the
film.
Gemini
Film
Circuit,
which
acquired
the
South
Indian
remake
rights
of
3
idiots,
then
approached
Surya
and
almost
signed
him
to
play
the
lead
role
played
by
Aamir
Khan
in
the
original.
But
the
actor
also
stepped
out
of
Nanban,
as
the
production
house
refused
to
meet
his
demands.
On
the
other
end,
Shankar
kick-started
the
shooting
of
Nanban
with
the
other
cast:
Ileana
D'Cruz,
Jeeva,
Srikanth,
and
Sathyaraj.
In
the
meantime,
the
makers
of
the
film
decided
to
go
with
their
first
choice
–
Vijay.
They
convinced
him
and
sealed
the
deal
finally.
The
first
schedule
of
the
shooting
was
completed
at
Ooty
followed
by
second
in
Dehradun.
The
entire
shoots
were
completed
by
the
end
of
August
except
a
song.
Some
of
the
songs
of
Nanban
have
been
shot
in
London,
Buckingham
and
Europe.
However,
though
the
movie
was
ready
by
September
last
week,
the
bosses
decided
to
push
the
release
date
due
to
Vijay's
other
release
Velayudham.
The
audio
of
Nanban
was
released
in
December.
Harris
Jayaraj
compositional
music
has
some
six
tracks
of
which
four
tracks
have
been
declared
chartbusters
and
'Asku
laska...'
topping
the
chart.
However,
Nanban
has
generated
curiosity
for
many
reasons
and
being
Vijay-Shankar's
film
is
the
prime
factor
for
the
hype.
Adding
to
that
the
movie
is
a
remake
of
a
popular
Hindi
movie,
which
bagged
countless
awards
for
various
category
and
the
audience
want
to
see
how
the
Tamil
version
has
been
made
with
the
local
sensibilities.