Before committing to Sye Raa, Rathnavelu was gearing up for his directorial debut  “It was supposed to happen three years back. I thought of starting the project after Rangasthalam, but then Chiranjeevi sir offered Sye Raa and advise me to prioritize cinematography as I am one of the leading lensmen of the industry. When I was about to work on my directorial, I got the offer to be a part of a big project like Indian 2, which will be my Tamil film after a gap of five years.”