Ashish Vidyarthi, Dhamu, Mayilsamy, Janaki Sabesh, Nancy Jennifer, Nagendra Prasad, Ponnambalam and Pandu play supporting roles.

The film is about a Kabaddi player, who goes to Madurai to participate in an exhibition match, but instead rescues a woman from a gang leader, who wants to marry her.

The soundtrack album and score were composed by Vidyasagar, while cinematography was handled by Gopinath and editing by V. T. Vijayan and B. Lenin.

However, while preparing for a Kabaddi match in Madurai, Velu sees Dhanalakshmi and rescues her by thrashing Muthupandi and taking her to Chennai.

Velu's lack of focus in the game is quickly replaced by his best upon seeing Dhanalakshmi, which ultimately helps his team win the championship.

[6] Dharani's regular crew members including cinematographer Gopinath and music director Vidyasagar joined the film, while Rocky Rajesh and Raju Sundaram were chosen to choreograph the stunts and dances, respectively, for which Sundaram was awarded Filmfare Award for Best Dance Choreographer – South later.

Due to other commitments, they were replaced by Vijay and Trisha,[30] while Prakash Raj reprised his role as the antagonist from the original.

[35] Vimal who went on to act in films like Pasanga (2009) and Kalavani (2010) appeared in a small role as one of Vijay's teammates and also worked as "unofficial" assistant director.

Shooting took place mainly in and around Chennai, surrounding the areas like Mylapore and Besant Nagar and also at the cities of Rayagada in Odisha and Araku Valley and Simhachalam in Andhra Pradesh.

[39] The interval chasing sequences were canned near the Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai and at Manapparai in Trichy district.

[40] Vidyasagar was signed to compose the soundtrack album and background score for Ghilli; it marks his fourth collaboration with both Dharani and Vijay, with the former on Ethirum Puthirum (1999), Dhill (2001) and Dhool (2003), and working with the latter on Coimbatore Mappillai (1995), Nilaave Vaa (1998) and Thirumalai (2003).

[42] The song was also adapted by P. A. Deepak, a music producer, as "Hum Na Tode" in the 2013 Hindi movie Boss.

[51] The Hindu wrote "Vijay, the hero whom the masses today identify with, and Prakash Raj, the inimitable villain in tow, this remake of the Telugu flick, "Okkadu," comes a clear winner".

[52] Rediff wrote "Gilli portrays Vijay as a comic hero who battles his villains logically while his physical powers are exaggerated dramatically.

[54][55] Visual Dasan of Kalki gave a negative review, saying as the entire film revolves around a chase and melee between the villain and the hero till the very last scene, Ghilli is the epitome of back-scratching exaggeration for die-hard fans.

[61] In Master, a Kabaddi scene uses music montage invoking Ghilli,[62] while the other song from the film, "Arjunaru Villu" was used in Naai Sekar (2022).