NANBAN

Following Gemini Film Circuit's purchase of the remake rights for 3 Idiots in January 2010, there was much speculation in regard to the three title roles essayed by Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi in the original.[10] Gemini Film Circuit approached noted directors S. Shankar, Vishnuvardhan and S. Dharani to replace Rajkumar Hirani as the director, with the approval from Shankar leading to him being signed.[11] Despite speculation that he was set to pull out from directing his first remake as it would be a step down from his previous film, Enthiran, Shankar stated his commitment in October 2010.[12][13] As Shankar's norm music director, A. R. Rahman couldn't be retained for the project due to his busy schedules, Harris Jayaraj and Yuvan Shankar Raja were approached to compose the soundtrack,[14] with Shankar settling for the former with whom he had worked with in the 2005 action film Anniyanearlier.[15] Meanwhile, Manoj Paramahamsa, whose work in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and Eeram had been critically acclaimed, was signed on as the cinematographer.[16]

For the lead role,initial reports suggested that Vijay would essay the role of Rancho, played by Aamir Khan.[17][18] |.However, by mid-December 2010, soon after trial shoots were held, Vijay walked out the film following disputes over his dates, with Surya being labelled as his likely replacement.[19] Reports claimed that talks with Surya failed, since the actor had demanded salary increase and dubbing rights for the Telugu-version of the film.[20] Surya's reasons for refusing the offer was later confirmed not to be true, with Surya himself revealing that he had opted out only because of other film commitments and "did not want to keep Shankar waiting."[21] As a result, Vijay was once again finalized for the role.[22]

The roles of the other two titular characters took considerably longer to confirm. Madhavan was initially approached to reprise his role from the original but made it clear that he was unwilling to be a part of the remake, citing the film had already "gone down in history".[23] Early indications suggested that Udhayanidhi Stalin had replaced him but the claims were false.[24] In November 2010, reports emerged that Vinay Rai or Nakul were set to play the role, however Vinay cited that he refused the project as the role was not as meaty as the other two characters.[25] Consequently, the production house signed Srikanth to play the role, after seeing his performance in Drohi, which had come after several box-office failures for him.[26]Sharman Joshi's role was originally offered to Silambarasan, but after discussions, it was revealed that Silambarasan could not associate himself with the character.[27] Subsequently the role was offered to Siddharth, a protege of Shankar, who also went on to refuse the project.[28] Despite further reports that Arya and Jeeva were being considered, the latter signed on and agreed with Shankar that he would play Joshi's role instead of Madhavan's.[29][30] The role played by Kareena Kapoor in the original, was reported to be played by either Shruti Haasan orAsin. However Ileana D'Cruz was signed on for the film after attempts to feature Katrina Kaif in the film had failed.[31] The college professor's role was given to Sathyaraj, despite early indications that Prakash Raj would be approached. Omi Vaidya was unable to reprise his role from the original and comedian Sathyan Sivakumar was signed on to essay his role, whileS. J. Surya signed on to appear in a guest role, portraying the role enacted by Javed Jaffrey.[32] Anuya Bhagvath was also signed up for a supporting role.[33]