Following P. Vasu and Rajinikanth's film Chandramukhi in 2005, Vasu had been keen to cast Rajinikanth in another role. Before signing Kathanayakudu, he had narrated a story titled Vettaiyan, which would have been a sequel of a character featured in Chandramukhi. Early in 2008, Rajinikanth signed up for S. Shankar's Robo, while Kathanayakudu was launched at the Taj Coromandel in Chennai on 14 January 2008, coinciding with Pongal. P. Vasu signed up Rajinikanth and Jagapathi Babu to portray the lead roles, while Aswani Dutt agreed to produce the film in Telugu. The film is a remake of the Malayalam film Kadha Parayumbol, which was written by Sreenivasan, who also played the lead role in the film.
