1971: Beyond Borders

The film is set in two time periods, with Mohanlal playing both Colonel Mahadevan and his father Major Sahadevan (later brigadier) . The film will also see his transition from a Major to a Colonel. The film is based on a true incident and explores the friendship and life of two army officials. Mohanlal will be appearing in his fourth film as Mahadevan after Keerthi Chakra (2006), Kurukshetra (2008), and Kandahar (2010). Ravi said in an interview in October 2015, that unlike the previous films in the series, Beyond Borders will be more like his last military film Picket 43 (2015), that "the focus will be on the individuals rather than the war, and will portray the relationships that are forged during the war".[3] Rahul Subramaniam, Siddharth Vipin, and Najim Arshad is composing the music for the film.

In early August 2016, Bollywood actor Arunoday Singh was confirmed playing the role of Lieutenant colonel (Lt. Col.) Rana Sharif, a soldier of Pakistan Army. Before zeroing in Singh, there were talks with other actors. Ravi was particularly looking for a Bollywood actor to play the role. Singh's character was modeled after a real life soldier in the Pakistan Frontier Force Regiment during the 1971 war. Ravi said, it is not a negative role that he is also fighting for his country and will have equal importance as Mahadevan.[4] On 22 October 2016, Telugu actor Allu Sirish himself confirmed his role in the film by announcing in Twitter.[5] He plays Lieutenant (Lt.) Chinmay, an armoured tank Commando, of the wing headed by Mahadevan. It is the Malayalam film debut of Sirish. Ravi was looking for younger actors to play the role.[6] Mumbai-based model Priyanka Agrawal was signed to appear as Shariff's wife, in two different appearances—as a 65 year old and as her younger self. Hers is one among the two leading female roles in the film. It is also her feature film debut.[7]

In early December 2016, it was confirmed that the production team negotiated with Nikki Galrani to play a Tamilian girl, a love interest of Chinmay, played by Sirish. She was busy with her Tamil films, but attracted as a Mohanlal film and the debut of Sirish, she agreed on verbal terms.[8] Galrani later opted out from the film in early January 2017 due to a schedule change and conflicting date issues with some of her Tamil films in contract. Her portions opposite Sirish were supposed to be shot at Pollachi the same month.[9] She was replaced by Srushti Dange, making her debut into Malayalam cinema.[10] Zoya Zayed Khan was confirmed in December 2016, to play a traditional Pakistani doctor. She is acting alongside Singh. Khan was cast after a screen test. Shafeeq Rahman was cast as Jayakrishnan, one of the soldiers under Mahadevan's command.[11] Saiju Kurup and Sudheer Karamana also plays soldiers, among others.[12][13] Asha Sarath is paired opposite to Mohanlal's Sahadevan, the mother role of Mahadevan.

The filming commenced on 31 October 2016 at Suratgarh in Rajasthan, India.[14] Art director Saloo K. George built huge sets resembling army camps and bunkers. Built in Kochi, Kerala, they were transported to Rajasthan. The filming was conducted in the deserts of Rajasthan, the Viper population was highest in that area, the crew unaware of it first, immediately ordered antivenoms and worn heavy shoes on reaching the location. Chest congestion often occurred to the crew.[15] Sirish joined filming on 5 November 2016. Indian army base in Arjungarh, Junagarh and Mahajan in Bikaner were some of the filming locations in Rajasthan.[16][17] After 25 days of filming, the schedule was wrapped on 23 November 2016.[18] There was also a schedule in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.[19]

The next few schedules underwent at various location in Kerala, beginning in Pattambi, Palakkad district. The Indo-Pakistani war sequences were planned to shoot at Uganda,[15] later they decided to film it in Georgia instead, following the Kerala schedule. After finishing in Pattambi, they shifted to nearby Ottapalam in early January 2017.[17] Then to Perumbavoor, Ernakulam district in the third week of January 2017, where sets were built resembling North Indian borders and warfare trenches. It was constructed in a 40 acre reclaimed land near Perumbavoor. Mohanlal joined the location on 16 January 2017, filming held during day and night.[20]

The team began filming its final schedule in Georgia on 31 January 2017 for a week. Beyond Borders is the first Malayalam film to be shot in the Eurasian country.[21] Major Mahadevan's action sequences were shot in Georgia who is in a UN peacekeeping mission. The filming wrapped on 5 February 2017.[22]

The film will feature four songs composed by three music directors—Najim Arshad, Siddharth Vipin, and Rahul Subramanian. The film score is composed by Gopi Sunder. Singer Arshad debuts as a music director through the film. He composed a Hindi patriotic song written by a Kolkata-based lyricist named Kamal Karthik, the song come towards the end of the film.[23] Vipin known for his compositions in Tamil films, is composing two songs—one is a romantic song picturised in the locations in Kerala. The other one is a motivational song that will follow after a speech delivered by Mohanlal's character.[19] Subramanian composed a nostalgic song, sung by M. G. Sreekumar and featuring Mohanlal and Asha Sarath.[24]