The first look poster of Mani Ratnam’s 'Ponniyin Selvan' featuring Vikram in all royal finery has just dropped in. He plays Aditya Karikalan in the film. This period extravaganza is slated to release on September 30th this year. Ponniyan Selvam is based on the novel by the same name written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. This 2400-page book is about the Chola King Arulmozhi Varman (Raja Raja Chola the first ).
Mani Ratnam has put together a spectacular lineup of actors for this film based on a book that is considered one of the greatest literary works in Tamil. Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai, Trisha, Aishwarya Lakshmy, Shobita Dhulipala, Prabhu, Aswin Kakumanu, Lal, Parthipan, Riyaz Khan, Mohan Raman, Amala Paul, Keerthi Suresh, Rashi Khanna, Sathyaraj, Sharath Kumar, Jayaram, Rahman, Kishore, Prakash Raj, Vikram Prabhu, Jayachithra, etc are the main actors.
The music is by AR Rahman and the cinematography is by Ravi Varman. The screenplay is by Ilango Kumaravel who previously scripted Rajeev Menon’s 'Sarvam Thalamayam'. The film is co-produced by Mani Ratnam and Laika Productions.
In 1958, MGR attempted to make a film based on the life of Ponniyan Selvam. But the film had to be shelved. Mani Ratnam had started the work on this film in 2012 but it kept getting postponed due to financial constraints.
Ponniyan Selvam is a five-part novel. Mani Ratnam is planning to showcase the film in two parts. In 2015, a 32-hour animation film was released based on Ponniyan Selvan. It took eight years for an animation studio called Revinda Movie Toons in Chennai to make the film.
In 2005, there was a film titled 'Ponniyan Selvam' directed by Radha Mohan. But the film headlining Revathy, Prakash Raj, and Gopika has no connection with the novel.
