The film was unable to keep its name, Robot, due to the English title in Tamil Nadu, whose government present tax exemption to films with Tamil titles. Likely titles suggested to proceed Robot as the title, included Iyandiran or Iyandira, both literal translations of Robot. However it was confirmed in September 2008 that the film has been renamed to Endhiran. The film’s scripting is going on as told by Shankar in two interviews. It was subsequently announced that all those who have been committed for Robot should sign an agreement accepting that they will not commit themselves to any other project for the next two years of its production, with an exemption to the female lead, Aishwarya Rai.

However in December 2008, a sudden turn of events led to the production and distribution rights of the film being substantially altered. The production company, Eros International, cited the failures of Drona and Yuvvraj for putting them in financial pressure. Furthermore, Ayngaran International were affected by the Global financial crisis of 2008, forcing both productions to sell the project. Immediately Sun Pictures bought the film from the previous producers for 165 crores, taking over all rights for the film. Sun Pictures is negotiating a deal with HBO to release an English subtitled version of the film in the West.

The film began on February 15, 2008 in Chennai when portfolio photographer G. Venket Ram did a photo shoot with Rajinikanth. Following this initial shoot, Shankar and the cinematographer R. Rathnavelu went on a world tour to location-hunt. The team visited Vienna in Austria, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Hanoi in Vietnam to pick suitable locations. The first three photo sessions were held with Rajinikanth in Mumbai and Chennai with Aishwarya Rai featuring in the fourth session. The first schedule of the film was started on September 8, 2008 at Peru, where a song picturization featuring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai was shot under the choreography of Raju Sundaram, at the historic site of the Machu Picchu. Other scenes for the song were finished off in the United States and then Brazil. The shooting for the second schedule, continued in Goa, India where the initial talkie portions were filmed for ten days. The third schedule for the film included shooting in Himachal Pradesh for a song, which was then followed by scenes being canned in and around Chennai. Scenes featuring a Robotics conference involving Rajnikanth, Aishwarya Rai, Santhanam and Karunas were carried out at SSN College of Engineering as well as at the Vellore Institute of Technology, with over four hundred students being used as extras.