Mani Ratnam’s ambitious project Ponniyin Selvan, which features Vikram, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha Krishnan, Jayaram, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Prabhu, Sarathkumar, Vikram Prabhu, and Sobhita Dhulipala in key roles, has been in the news since its inception. While there were rumours that the makers might release the film on the OTT platform, Mani Ratnam denied the news and told trade expert Sreedhar Pillai, “When is the Pandemic going away? We have some more shoot left, though I would say a substantial part of the film has been shot, almost 75 percent. It’s tough doing the film in these difficult times. The scale and canvass of Ponniyin Selvan is bigger than my previous films The film will only first premiere in a theatre.”
Reportedly, Aishwarya Rai will portray Nandini—wife of Chola Kingdom’s Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar and Nandini’s mother—Mandakini Devi’s part, who was a mute queen. Though the primary focus will be on Nandini’s life. The film is based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s historical novel and will narrate the story of Arulmozhivarman, who later became the great Raja Raja Chola I. The film is bankrolled by Lyca Productions and the music is composed by AR Rahman.
