Mani Ratnam shared his plan of adapting Kalkli Krishnamurthy’s fictional historic novel, Ponniyin Selvan, in 1994. After being in the lurch for a plethora of reasons, the novel will finally see itself translated to the film. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sobhita Dhulipala will be seen in major roles. Actors for the Southern cinema have been roped in to play major roles, too. They include Vikram, Karthi, Trisha and Jayam Ravi.
Mumbai Mirror reports that the shooting of the film, which is named after the novel, commenced last year on 11 December in Thailand. The story is set in the 10th and 11th century and tells the tale of Arulmozhivarman, a king of the Chola dynasty. The film is said to have two installments, the first of which will release in 2021.
Aishwarya Rai plays a negative character in the film. Her character Nandini plots the downfall of the Cholas by manipulating her husband. Vikram will play the part of Prince Aditya Karikalan. Most of Aishwarya’s scenes are said to be with Vikram. The two had worked together in Mani Ratnam’s Raavan. Aishwarya had also been the leading lady of Mani Ratnam’s Guru and Ravan previously.
The film is scheduled to be shot in South India throughout the year and is said to have a lot of VFX as well.
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