It stars Kamal Haasan and Gautami, with Esther Anil, Asha Sarath and Roshan Basheer reprising their roles from the original film.

Principal photography commenced on 25 August 2014 and lasted for seven months, with shooting held at Tirunelveli, Nanguneri, Tenkasi, Kuthukalvalasai, and Thodupuzha.

In 2014, He was a businessman running a cable TV service in Papanasam, a small town in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.

His disposing of Varun's yellow Maruti Suzuki Zen car is spotted by Constable Perumal, who has a grudge against Suyambulingam.

Suyambulingam then takes his family out on a trip to Tenkasi to attend a temple prayer meeting, and they watch a movie in a theatre, stay in a hotel, and eat at a restaurant.

Geetha arrests Suyambulingam and his family, and Perumal brutally hits them, including Meena to make the truth come out.

Perumal is suspended from the job, all officers in the Papanasam station are transferred out of the district and Geetha resigns from her post.

After the commercial and critical success of the 2013 Malayalam film Drishyam directed by Jeethu Joseph and starring Mohanlal, several regional producers approached the makers for remake rights.

The team subsequently signed on Kamal Haasan in late January 2014, to enact the leading role after successful negotiations, with Jeethu Joseph choosing to direct the Tamil version himself.

[5] The pair then chose to alter the storyline to feature a Hindu family from Papanasam instead of Christian Keralite's, to make it familiar with Tamil audiences.

[16] Joseph confirmed that Sridevi was not part of the project and that the team would make the official announcements as soon as the cast and crew were finalized.

[17] Kamal Haasan's partner Gautami was later confirmed to play Meena's role from the original in June 2014, marking her comeback to acting after a sixteen-year sabbatical.

[21][22] Niveda Thomas was signed on to play the elder daughter of the lead pair,[23] while child artiste Esther Anil was also added to the cast, reprising her role from the original as well.

[36] Sathish Paul, a Malayalam filmmaker-scriptwriter filed a petition with the Ernakulam District Court asking to stop the Tamil remake of Drishyam, alleging that the original film was a copy of his story published as a book in May 2013 called Oru Mazhakalathu.

Benoy Kadavan, Sathish's advocate, informed that his client was told by Jeethu that Drishyam was going to be a family drama, and not a thriller.

But when the movie was released, he noted that it was an exact copy and that a notice was sent to Jeethu Joseph and both the Malayalam and the Tamil production houses asking for equal shares in the profits of the film.

[45] The album was launched on 13 June 2015,[46] at the Suryan FM 93.5 radio station in Chennai, with the presence of the film's cast and crew.

Hindustan Times gave the film 4 out of 5 and stated "A must watch for those fans of Kamal who have been waiting to see him as an actor -- not just a star driven to stunts".

[56] Deccan Chronicle gave 4 stars as well and wrote, "Riffing a sophisticated mix of the human condition and a simplistic storyline, Papanasam is a movie that engages your senses while managing to dispel any misgivings on a timely basis...director Jeethu Joseph has recreated the original magic of Drishyam but with a more localized flavor to boot".

[57] Filmibeat rated the film 4.5 out of 5 and concluded "Papanasam is a winning script and retaining Jeethu Joseph has helped immensely.

[60] Baradwaj Rangan of the Hindu wrote "A faithful remake, a solid thriller "[61] The film grossed over ₹100 crore worldwide.