After two years of discussions, Vikram began a film under the direction of Selvaraghavan in a project dubbed by the media as Sindubad. The film began shoot and completed a schedule by early 2010 in the Himalayas with Swati Reddy appearing as the female lead. However, the film was reported to be momentarily shelved and subsequently never took off again after the producer Singanamala Ramesh walked out. Vikram then agreed terms to feature in Vikram Kumar's 24, produced by Mohan Natarajan, with Ileana D'Cruz signed on to play the female lead role. The film progressed briefly with shots being canned in caves, before the director was ousted from the project, cancelling the film. Vikram then also shot briefly for a third successive shelved project directed by Boopathy Pandian for the same producer, featuring him in the role of an investigative cop; however the film failed to progress and instead Natarajan financed Vikram's next film.
