Director Mani Ratnam and music composer A.R. Rahman did not work with lyricist Vairamuthu on this film, following the latter's #MeToo allegations and controversy. This marked the end of the longest director-composer-lyricist trio in Tamil Cinema, which began since A.R. Rahman's debut on Mani Ratnam's Roja (1992).
Since the start of his career in 2007, Karthi has never worked with the same director twice. However, with this film, he has broken that unspoken rule since he has previously worked with Mani Ratnam in Kaatru Veliyidai (2017).
Music composer A.R. Rahman has stated that Ponniyin Selvan (2022) is probably his most difficult project since it was an epic film, and required exhaustive research.
The word "Ponni" in the title of this film is the Tamil equivalent of River Cauvery. This title was set by Kalki Krishnamurthy, the author of the 5 part historical novel published in 1950s.
Actor Vikram was earlier signed to do a film named Karikalan, which was based on the ruler of same kingdom- Cholas.