The film is written and directed by Venkat Prabhu and produced by Suresh Kamatchi, starring Silambarasan and Kalyani Priyadarshan, with SJ Suryah as the antagonist. It also stars Bharathiraja, SA Chandrasekhar, Karunakaran and Premgi Amaren in supporting roles.

Venkat Prabhu had initially planned to collaborate with Silambarasan for Billa 3 but wasn't able to, due to his ongoing commitments with his directorial party. In June 2018, producer Suresh Kamatchi of V House Production officially confirmed their next venture with Silambarasan and Venkat Prabhu.

Maanaadu is touted to be an action-thriller film. Venkat Prabhu revealed that the film will be based on a political backdrop. Kalyani Priyadarshan is pairing with STR and the successful collaboration of Venkat Prabhu with Yuvan is continuing as Yuvan Shankar Raja returns as the Music director for the film.