Mankatha is the soundtrack album, composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, to the 2011 film of the same name, directed by Venkat Prabhu starring Ajith Kumar.

[18] Karthik and Vijay Yesudas had performed another song in the album, titled "Balle Lakka", which also features vocals of Anusha Dhayanidhi, wife of producer Dayanidhi Azhagiri, debuting as a playback singer.

Further Venkat Prabhu disclosed that S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and Shankar Mahadevan were approached to render one number in vain, with the former declining, explaining that the song was too high-pitched for his voice, and the latter being unavailable.

[24] The "Machi Open The Bottle..." song and the club mix of "Vilaiyaadu Mankatha" were notably orchestrated by Venkat Prabhu's brother Premji Amaran.

[13][27] The release of the soundtrack album was initially scheduled for 1 May 2011, coinciding with Ajith Kumar's birthday,[28] but had to be postponed to mid-May,[29] which too was missed, with the launch being pushed back to June.

[3] Since Ajith Kumar informed that he wouldn't attend any promotional events of his films,[36] producer Dhayanidhi Azhagiri dropped the idea of a grand release function.