Tollywood star hero first choice for Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan?
By : Bhavana Sharma
Update: 2024-08-07 18:57 GMT
Made by the renowned Mani Ratnam, Ponniyin Selvan was aired in two parts in 2022 and 2023. However, this journey towards bringing a grand narrative on screen started much earlier with a completely different bunch of stars pictured.
In 2010, Mani Ratnam had an ambitious project of making Ponniyin Selvan a movie adaptation. He planned to have South Indian superstars Thalapathy Vijay and Mahesh Babu play the main roles. These actors signed up for the project - a major convergence between two giants in Indian cinema.
However, there were many hurdles facing them at first. At that time, graphics and VFX technology advancement was very limited which made it difficult for Mani Ratnam’s film to see the light of day. Moreover, due to financial constraints further complicating production led to eventual shelving of the project.
In his interview with Tamil magazine Vikatan during Spyder promotions in 2017, Mahesh Babu confessed that they did a photo shoot in Chennai alongside Vijay for that movie. Just seven days before principal photography was set to start this shooting occurred but again mentioned challenges stopped it indefinitely. It should however be noted that Mahesh Babu still maintains a good relationship with Vijay as he looks back on what could have been a big collaboration.
After more than ten years of delay, Ponniyin Selvan finally saw daylight in 2022 and 2023 with an ensemble cast featuring Chiyaan Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Trisha Krishnan Jayaram Aishwarya Lekshmi Sobhita Dhulipala Prakash Raj Prabhu R.Sarathkumar and many more in important roles.
The film is based on Kalki’s famous novel. It tells the story of Prince Arunmozhi Varman, who was to become the great emperor Rajaraja I of the Chola empire. The plot traces a series of political and personal involvements during the reign of the Chola dynasty making it an historical rich in facts and drama.
However, despite initial delays due to Covid-19 pandemic, Ponniyin Selvan movies were later released with much success on both commercial and critical grounds. This made them among the top-grossing films in Tamil cinema thus firmly establishing them as important cinematic milestones. The project has finally seen its way onto a big screen after all this time hence leaving an indelible mark on the Indian cinema scene as well.
In 2010, Mani Ratnam had an ambitious project of making Ponniyin Selvan a movie adaptation. He planned to have South Indian superstars Thalapathy Vijay and Mahesh Babu play the main roles. These actors signed up for the project - a major convergence between two giants in Indian cinema.
However, there were many hurdles facing them at first. At that time, graphics and VFX technology advancement was very limited which made it difficult for Mani Ratnam’s film to see the light of day. Moreover, due to financial constraints further complicating production led to eventual shelving of the project.
In his interview with Tamil magazine Vikatan during Spyder promotions in 2017, Mahesh Babu confessed that they did a photo shoot in Chennai alongside Vijay for that movie. Just seven days before principal photography was set to start this shooting occurred but again mentioned challenges stopped it indefinitely. It should however be noted that Mahesh Babu still maintains a good relationship with Vijay as he looks back on what could have been a big collaboration.
After more than ten years of delay, Ponniyin Selvan finally saw daylight in 2022 and 2023 with an ensemble cast featuring Chiyaan Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Trisha Krishnan Jayaram Aishwarya Lekshmi Sobhita Dhulipala Prakash Raj Prabhu R.Sarathkumar and many more in important roles.
The film is based on Kalki’s famous novel. It tells the story of Prince Arunmozhi Varman, who was to become the great emperor Rajaraja I of the Chola empire. The plot traces a series of political and personal involvements during the reign of the Chola dynasty making it an historical rich in facts and drama.
However, despite initial delays due to Covid-19 pandemic, Ponniyin Selvan movies were later released with much success on both commercial and critical grounds. This made them among the top-grossing films in Tamil cinema thus firmly establishing them as important cinematic milestones. The project has finally seen its way onto a big screen after all this time hence leaving an indelible mark on the Indian cinema scene as well.