Initally, Rathnavelu couldn't allot dates when the project (Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy) was at its initial stages. After some postponement, actor and Sye Raa's producer Ram Charan approached him again during the final schedule of director Sukumar’s Rangasthalam, for which Rathnavelu was the cinematographer, “I was keen on shooting one film at a time, hence I told the makers to wait till Rangasthalam gets completed.”

What piqued his curiosity was the biopic-like aspect of the  script “Rarely do we get a story is based on a historical event that dates back to two-hundered and fifty years. Also I was interested in portraying the life of a freedom fighter.” The lensman believed that Sye Raa will propagate the ideals of Indian freedom struggle to the current generation