 Mullum Malarum was filmed on 35 mm ORWO colour film. The film intentionally defied traditional Tamil cinema conventions, discarding elements which Mahendran disliked. Mahendra later professed to avoid incorporating the usual hero-heroine dancing into the film as he thought it was like "watching two drunken monkeys dancing". Instead, he allocated music to the background only, at times when the lead characters were expressing their emotions. Since Mahendran had no previous directing experience, Mahendra assumed principal responsibility and responded to Mahendran's specifications for the screenplay, dialogue, camera angles, casting and editing.
