 The concept of Veerapandiya Kattabomman began when Sivaji Ganesan and Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy were travelling through Kayatharu, where Kattabomman was hanged. While there, Ganesan expressed a desire of doing a play based on Kattabomman's life, to which Krishnasamy immediately agreed, and started to write the play. Coincidentally, Ganesan's first exposure to the field of acting was when he saw a street play on Kattabomman ’ s life titled Kambalaththaar Kooththu. Krishnasamy completed writing the script for the play in a month's time. The play was launched in Salem on 29 August 1957. Ganesan had invested close to ₹ 50,000 for the play's sets and costumes.
