CHENNAI: Fans showed their excitement and celebrated the release of Mani Ratnam's magnum opus 'Ponniyin Selvan' across the state of Tamil Nadu.
Fans gathered in huge numbers outside Rohini Silver Screens movie theatre in Chennai's Koyambedu. The celebration included the playing of drums and dancing in front of the cinema hall.
Speaking to ANI, one of the audience members, Divya shared her thoughts about the movie. "The film is really good. Manirathnam has directed well in a great way. Everything is good! The acting, music, screenplay and VFX. This film will be a great success for Tamilians to be proud of," she said.
Another audience member Sri Ram also reviewed the film. He said, "If we watch this film in theatres, it will be a really good experience. It can be considered as a great film if we don't compare it with Baahubali or other films. VFX is top matching. Manirathnam has done VFX well in his past films like Kadal (Sea).
From A. R. Rahman's music, Trisha's character as Kundhavai to the cinematography by Ravi Varma, everything is great and interesting! I believe this film will get the National award for Cinematography. Overall art direction is good. What everyone expected was Vikram's character which he has acted nicely."
In Madurai, fans offered milk and put garlands around the actor Vikram's poster, and even performed the pooja and were seen bursting crackers. In the film, Vikram portrays the role of Aditya Karikalan.
Apart from Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is seen in dual roles in the historical drama. She plays Queen Nandini, the princess of Pazhuvoor, who is on a mission to seek vengeance, as well as Mandakini Devi. Trisha is seen as Kundavai and Ravi portrays the character of Arunmozhi Varman. Karthi plays Vanthiyathevan.
Directed by Mani Ratnam, 'Ponniyin Selvan' is a pan-India film.
'Ponniyin Selvan-Part 1' is a cinematic adaptation of author Kalki Krishnamurthy's Tamil novel of the same name which was released in the form of a series during the 1950s.
It marks the third collaboration of Aishwarya with south actor Vikram after their critically acclaimed film 'Raavan' in 2010, and the fourth collaboration with director Mani Ratnam after 'Iruvar' in 1997, 'Guru' in 2007 and 'Raavan' in 2010.
PS1 is a historical drama of a time when the Cholan Empire was at the height of its power. The film follows the power struggle between royal families as forces conspire to capture the Cholan throne.
'Ponniyin Selvan' film used the names of real-life characters who existed at the time but the events are fictionalised to a larger extent.
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.
The A.R Rahman musical is out in theatres, in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. Produced by Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions.