KV Anand revealed that Ilayathalapathy Vijay was his first choice for Anegan as he wrote the script with the actor in his mind. But unfortunately, due to his prior commitments for AR Murugadoss' Kaththi, Vijay had turned down the film. The cinematographer-turned director even mentioned that it was Vijay who had put forward Dhanush's name for the film. So that's how Dhanush landed himself into Anegan.