The film is loosely based on the story of Veerapandiya Kattabomman, the 18th-century South Indian king who rebelled against the East India Company.

It was an adaptation of the play of the same name by Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy which featured Sivaji Ganesan as the title character, and premiered in August 1957.

The king receives a message from W. C. Jackson, the tax collector for Tirunelveli, which demands a meeting with him at Ramanathapuram to discuss payment.

Bannerman is placed in charge of the British troops; he and Ettappan plan to attack Panchalankurichi when the people are attending a festival in Tiruchendur.

Since childhood, Sivaji Ganesan dreamt of playing the resistance fighter Veerapandiya Kattabomman; he had left home at age seven to fulfill his dream.

[5] Krishnasamy's play, Veerapandiya Kattabomman, premiered in Salem in late August 1957 and was performed by Ganesan's troupe, Sivaji Nataka Mandram.

[10] The screenplay was credited to a "history research team", headed by M. P. Sivagnanam and consisting of Krishnasamy, Panthulu, Sivaji Ganesan, P. A. Kumar and Singamuthu.

[10] Before Ganesan and Panthulu, there were two unsuccessful attempts to make a film on Kattabomman: in July 1948,[11] Selvam Pictures announced its intention to produce Kattabommu (the rebel's real name), which would star P. U.

[12][13] The other attempt was made by producer S. S. Vasan of Gemini Studios; a promotional poster for the project, entitled Kattabomman, was released on 5 November 1953.

[14][15] A notice from Gemini, inviting anyone with useful information about Kattabomman and his exploits to send it to the studio's storyboard department, was published three days later in the magazine Ananda Vikatan.

[17] Film historian Randor Guy contradicted this in his 1997 book, Starlight, Starbright: The Early Tamil Cinema, saying that writers like Kothamangalam Subbu and Veppathur Kittoo were hired by Vasan to research Kattabomman's life, and Vasan believed that Ganesan, who had become popular after Parasakthi (1952), was the only eligible choice to portray Kattabomman.

This was where the final filming schedule took place, and principal photography ended in the same year, around late November to early December.

[34] The soundtrack was a career breakthrough for struggling playback singer P. B. Sreenivas, who was recruited by Ramanathan to sing the duet "Inbam Pongum Vennila", with P.

[51] When Ganesan returned to Madras, South Indian Actors Guild president M. G. Ramachandran organised a large welcome reception for him.

[52] Ganesan wrote in his autobiography that at the festival, "I was called on stage and I went up a diminutive, five-foot nothing, looking boyish with my build, whereas they had expected me to be a colossus, on seeing [Veerapandiya] Kattabomman, at least seven or eight feet tall!

"[58] In Starlight, Starbright: The Early Tamil Cinema Guy noted that according to East India Company records, Kattabomman was of Telugu ancestry and a strong, silent man (without the film's dash and daring).

[59] Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen in Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema says, "A love interest has been added as well", implying that the character of Vellaiyammal (Padmini) was fictional.

[60] In the 2010 book, Cinemas of South India: Culture, Resistance, Ideology, Elavarthi Sathya Prakash says about Kattabomman's Telugu identity: "While National historiography tries to elevate him, some versions of Tamil history seem to downgrade him".

"[62] University of Madras department head Ramu Manivannan told The Times of India in 2014, "The popular images of [historical] characters have been constructed from oral descriptions and accounts.

[64][65] N. Sathiya Moorthy wrote for Rediff.com in 2001, "[Ganesan's] portrayal of Lord Shiva in [Thiruvilaiyadal] and of freedom-fighters Veerapandia Kattabomman and Kappalottia Thamizhan V O Chidambaram have become symbolic of the very characters in the average Tamil mind across the world.

[8] Its success encouraged many in Tamil cinema to make films based on freedom fighters and historical figures, notably Kappalottiya Thamizhan (1961) and Bharathi (2000).

[68] The term "Ettappan" later entered Tamil vernacular as a slang word meaning a traitor, because of the scene where Kattabomman accuses the character of treachery.

[69] During a February 2009 visit to Sri Lanka, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L. K. Advani said: "I have seen the Tamil movie of [Veerapandiya Kattabomman], acted by [Sivaji] Ganesan, many times.

[72] A. V. Ashok wrote for The Hindu, "It is no exaggeration to say that Sivaji's heroic outpouring as Veerapandiya Kattabomman is an integral part of the Tamil cultural psyche.

"[73] According to the actor Sivakumar, "You can't reproduce movies like Parasakthi, Pasamalar, Devadas, Veerapandiya Kattabomman or Ratha Kanneer [...] By remaking such films, you are lowering yourself, while it enhances the original artists’ image.

Vaanam polikirathu, bhumi vilaigirathu, unakken katta vendum vari ... " (roughly translated "Tribute, tax, loan, interest.

"),[77] from a scene with W. C. Jackson (C. R. Parthiban), was ranked eighth on Outlook's 20 October 2008 list of 13 Cheesiest, Chalkiest Lines in Indian Cinema.

"[80] Actor Rana Daggubati, in an interview with Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu, said that Ganesan's performances as Kattabomman and Karna (in the 1964 film Karnan) influenced his role in Baahubali (2015).

[85][88] A reviewer for The Times of India criticised the digitised version, noting that the colour "seemed to have been leached [from] the frames" and the sound system was "a bit contemporary."

But this may be due to problems with the negative, and it doesn't affect the three-hour film at all – save for the war portions where we wait for the inevitable, it all just zips by.