The much-anticipated magnum opus, Ponniyin Selvan-1, first part of a two-part multilingual film based on Kalki’s classic Tamil novel “Ponniyin Selvan" directed by Mani Ratnam and jointly produced by Lyca Productions and Madras Talkies is all set to hit the big screen this year. The first part of the Tamil film franchise is set to hit theatres on September 30, the makers announced on Wednesday. The historical drama is based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1955 Tamil novel of the same name, which chronicles the story of the early days of Arulmozhivarman, one of the most powerful kings in the south, who went on to become the great Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I.
The story is set in the 10th century during a tumultuous time in the Chola Empire when the power struggle between different branches of the ruling family caused violent rifts between the potential successors to the reigning emperor. Backed by Ratnam's production house Madras Talkies and Allirajah Subaskaran's banner Lyca Productions, "Ponniyin Selvan - I" boasts a star-studded cast of Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karthi, Trisha Krishnan, Prakash Raj, Jayaram, Jayam Ravi and Aishwarya Lekshmi, among others.
The makers took to Twitter to announce the release date of the film on the occasion of Subaskaran's birthday. The tweet from Lyca Productions read, "Wishing our Chairman Allirajah Subaskaran a very happy birthday! The Golden Era comes to the big screens on Sept 30th! #PS1 #PS1FirstLooks @MadrasTalkies."
The banner also released the first look posters of Vikram, Rai Bachchan, Ravi and Krishnan in a series of tweets.
Ratnam has also served as co-writer on the screenplay with Elango Kumaravel, while B Jeyamohan has been credited as the dialogue writer.
The film's music has been scored by Ratnam's frequent collaborator AR Rahman.
Last July, it was announced that "Ponniyin Selvan - I" will be released in 2022 but no date was mentioned. The film is set to release in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.
