Preproduction

Following the success of Billa in December 2007, Ajith Kumar was signed by Prabhu's Sivaji Productions for a project touted to be directed by K. S. Ravikumar.^[3] Three months later, the producers officially signed on Gautham Vasudev Menon as the director; Sameera Reddy, the female lead for Menon's last film, was also finalised for the project. Initially, the producer was considering Anushka Shetty as the female lead.^[4] The film, which was due to start its first schedule during June 2008, had been built up as the final installment in Gautham Vasudev Menon's police trilogy, following his two earlier ventures, Kaaka Kaaka and Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, of which Ajith was originally meant to be a part.^[5] However, other indications suggested that the film was set to be the remake of the classic, Pudhiya Paravai starring Sivaji Ganesan, which Ganesan's son, Prabhu, denied. The film had been earlier titled by the media as Kanavugal Karpanaigal or Vaanam Kadandha Siragugal, but the team then finalised the title of Surangani, which was later abbreviated to Sura.^[5] However, the film's production failed to take off, with repeated dates being announced by the directors for the film's first schedule throughout 2009. Subsequently, Menon was removed from the project by the producers due to the film's inactivity, with directors Dharani, Vishnuvardhan and Saran leading the race to take over.^[6]

Development

In January 2009, the film was reannounced by Prabhu and the story was subsequently changed with Saran being signed up as the film's director. Ajith also underwent an appearance change during the early months of 2009 to prepare for his role. The film was eventually launched on 8 April 2009^[7] at Sivaji's family residence Annai Illam in Chennai.^[8] The film completed its production schedule by January 2010, and post-production and release works began soon after.

Casting

Following the announcement that Sivaji Productions, Ajith Kumar and Gautham Vasudev Menon would come together, other technicians were added to the film. Menon's usual collaborator, Harris Jayaraj, was signed on as the music composer. However, after Menon's departure, Jayaraj also left the project due to his busy schedule with other films.^[9] After approaching Yuvan Shankar Raja for the job, Saran finally confirmed Bharadwaj as music director.^[10] Asal was Bharadwaj's fiftieth film as composer; he had previously teamed up with Saran and Ajith on Kadhal Mannan, Amarkalam and Attagasam. Ajith was under contract to be paid a remuneration of $1.25 million in cash plus a 30 per cent share of the profit from sales of rights of the film.^[11]

During the launch in April 2009, other film technicians were revealed. Y-Kinz, an international music group, were announced to be a part of the music album for the film headed with Bharadwaj. Ajith himself had recommended Prashanth D. Misale, an assistant to Nirav Shah, to make his debut as a cinematographer.^[7] Anthony was selected as editor; Prabakar was chosen to work as the art director and Vairamuthu as the chief lyricist. Vivek Karunakaran, a Chennai-based fashion designer, was selected to make his debut as the film's costume designer.^[7] Soon after the launch, co-producer Prabhu cast himself to play an important role in the film. Gautham Menon's original choice, Sameera Reddy, was retained to star opposite Ajith in the film. Initially Anushka Shetty was considered for the role. Sameera appears alongside Ajith for the first time, despite previously being scheduled to appear opposite him in Citizen, which eventually went ahead without her. Mamta Mohandas was initially confirmed as the second heroine in Asal, but decided not to take the role.^[12] Sneha, Shriya Saran, newcomer Hansika Motwani and Bhavana were also approached for the second heroine's role, however Sneha was unable to comply due to call sheet problems, so Bhavana was finalised.^[13] A plethora of antagonistic roles were handed out for the film, with the initial selection being Rajiv Krishna.^[14] Other cast members are Pradeep Rawat, Kelly Dorji, Karen Miao Sapru, Adithya, Suresh,^[15] Sampath Raj,^[16] Surendra Pal^[17] and Yugi Sethu.

Filming

The cast and crew at a song shoot

Principal photography of the film began in June 2009 at an undisclosed location in Malaysia.^[18] The first schedule was completed on 2 August 2009. After a hectic schedule from Malaysia, the shooting for the second schedule continued on 18 September 2009 at Paris and Lyon, France.^[19] 30% of the scenes, including fight sequences and two song sequences, were canned there, including a duet song of Ajith and Sameera as pictured against the moonlit Eiffel Tower in Paris.^[20] After a 45-day shoot, the team returned to Chennai on 23 October 2009.^[21] Additional shooting was held in Harrington Road on 2 November. Asal's team later shot some of the important shots in AVM Studios.^[22] The film's dubbing schedule took off on 19 November at Four Frames Preview Theatre Chennai with a simple pooja ceremony.^[23] Ajith, Saran, Arjun (Prabhu's son), Dushyanth (Ramkumar's son) and other members of the film were present there.^[24] On 24 November 2009, an important scene for the film was shot at Sivaji Ganesan's house in T. Nagar, Chennai. A song sequence featuring Ajith and Bhavana was shot at the AVM Studios on 25 November 2009.^[25] The shooting of the final song was held at Binny Mills (Tambaram). The cast and crew of Asal went to a Middle East country for the remaining song shoot. The Asal unit left Chennai on 26 December and returned after a week.^[26] Shooting was finished on 31 December 2009 at Dubai, where a song sequence was filmed at Zabeel Park.

Reception

Made on a high budget, Asal opened to mixed reviews.^[27]

Critics cited that the film is strictly for Ajith fans and that it couldn't live up to its expectations, whilst also criticising its Billa hangover. Sify cited that the film, which "should have been called Billa-2", "falls flat due to lack of proper story and narration", adding, that the film "belongs to Ajith" and "it is a good ride if you keep your expectation meter low".^[28] A reviewer from Behindwoods gave the film 2 out of 5, claiming that this film "will gain no great interest". He adds that "Asal is a complete Ajith centric entertainer with lots of style and sophistication", that "the script is weak and there are other flaws too" and that "Ajith satisfies his fans, but Saran disappoints a bit with the way he has handled such a great team, better results were definitely on".^[29] Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff gave the film 2 out of 5 as well, citing that the film is for "die-hard Ajith fans", who would have "plenty of reasons to rejoice", whilst the others should "leave their brains at home". The reviewer, like Sify, also adds that the film has a "Billa hangover".^[30]