Makers of PS-I begin promotion campaign

Ponniyin Selvan 1, the epic movie made on a whopping Rs 500-crore budget by director Mani Ratnam, is to hit the screens on September 30.

The movie, based on the 1955 novel Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki Krishnamoorthy is, according to Mani Ratnam, his masterpiece and he has been able to helm it only after several failed attempts.

The makers on Saturday released a 10-second video on the film’s promotion plans and had mentioned that the fans will be in for adventures this week. The motion poster had a scene from Aditya Karikalan (played by Vikram)winning the war. The team is expected to announce the teaser release date of the film, which is expected to release later this month. The makers are expected to release another short announcement video prior to the teaser’s release. Legendary Tamil actor MG Ramachandran (MGR), who later went on to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously, had tried his hand in making Ponniyin Selvan after the novel hit the stands. His attempt, too, did not lead to any results due to various reasons.

Mani Ratnam himself tried to make the film in 1999 and 2009 but in vain. He later roped in Lyca Productions for funding the movie and thus the movie shoot commenced. His own Madras Talkies and Alirajah Subaskaran also joined in the production of the movie.

The script of the movie is written by Mani Ratnam along with Elango Kumaravel and dialogues have been penned B Jayamohan.

It has an impressive cast with Vikram playing the lead role. Tamil stars Karthi, Jayam Ravi are also playing stellar roles. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is also having a prominent role in the film.

The movie, which also has Trisha, Shobitha Dhulipala, Aishwarya Lakshmi, Jayaram and Vikram Prabhu playing major roles, is cinematographed by Ravi Varman and edited by Sreekar Prasad. Music of the movie is composed by AR Rahman.

The movie was shot across India and a few locations in Thailand. The shooting for the movie commenced in December 2020 and concluded in September 2021.The filmmaker has announced that it will have a worldwide release on September 30.