Ponniyin Selvan is one of the most ambitious projects of six times National award-winning filmmaker, Mani Ratnam. The cast of Ponniyin Selvan includes Chiyaan Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Trisha Krishnan, Jayaram, Vikram Prabhu, Aishwarya Lekshmi, R Sarathkumar, Prakash Raj, Rahman and Sara Arjun to name a few. The filming is taking place in Hyderabad as you read this. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has also joined the cast and crew of Ponniyin Selvan in Hyderabad. For the unversed, Ponniyin Selvan is based on a book by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Here's all that you need to know about Mani Ratnam's magnum opus:
Original adaptation
Before Mani Ratnam decided on adapting this historical drama, it was to be adapted by MG Ramachandran, who had bought the rights to produce a film in 1958 for Rs. 10,000. He had also zeroed in on an ensemble cast of Vyjayanthimala, Gemini Ganesan, Padmini, Savitri, B. Saroja Devi, M. N. Rajam, T. S. Balaiah, M. N. Nambiar, O. A. K. Thevar and V. Nagaiah. However, he met with an accident and was rendered unable to produce the epic.
Mani Ratnam adaptation
It's since 1994 that Mani Ratnam wanted to make a film on Ponniyin Selvan. However, making a film on a budget of Rs. 100 crore back then was a huge responsibility. Mani saar thought that taking such a huge financial budget did not make sense at the time. In 2010, he decided to begin the project, but faced another roadblock with the locations. As per reports, the legendary Director wanted to shoot certain portions of the film in Mysore Palace Lalitha Mahal, but was refused permission.
Cast changes
After Mani Ratnam decided to revive the project in 2019, there were a lot of casting changes Thalapathy Vijay, Mahesh Babu, Anushka Shetty, Nayanthara, Keerthy Suresh, Vijay Sethupathi and several others opted out of the film for varied reasons. A lot of other casting changes took place as and when the filmmaker decided to start shooting.
Iconic trio break up
Director Mani Ratnam and music composer A.R. Rahman will not work with lyricist Vairamuthu on this film, following the latter's #MeToo allegations and controversy. For decades, the trio have worked together in each of Ratnam's films since Roja (1992).
Karthi's unspoken rule
Hitherto South star Karthi has never worked with the same director twice. It wasn't a conscious decision or anything on the Kaithi actor's part, but it finally happened with Mani Ratnam, with whom he had earlier worked in Kaatru Veliyidai (2017).
Mega-budget
Remember we told you, Mani Ratnam wanted to make this film in 1994 at the budget of Rs 100 crore but shelved? Guess what the budget is right now? A whopping Rs 500 crore!
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of Ponniyin Selvan has not 5, not even 7, but all of 12 songs. Yes, you read that right. As per reports, Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman had flown to Bali to write songs for the film. Rahman stated that Ponniyin Selvan is one of the most difficult films he has worked on. An Oscar winner saying that, can you believe it?
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