First schedule wrapped up for Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan

The first schedule of Mani Ratnam’s ambitious project ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ has been wrapped up in Thailand. Karthi, Jayaram, Jayaram Ravi and Aishwarya Lekshmi were some of the actors who participated in the first leg of shoot. The cast also includes Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Vikram, Trisha, Vikram Prabhu, Sarath Kumar, Prabhu, Kishore, Rahman, Lal and Ashwin Kakumanu.

‘Ponniyin Selvan’ is actually a historical Tamil novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. In 5 volumes, or about 2400 pages, it tells the story of early days of Arulmozhivarman, who later became the great Chola emperor Raja Raja Chola I. Mani Ratnam has adapted its screenplay along with Siva Anand and Kumaravel. Jayamohan has penned the dialogues. The makers are planning to release the film in two parts.

DOP Ravi Varman, editor Sreekar Prasad and composer AR Rahman form the core technical crew. Mani Ratnam’s own banner Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions are collaborating for this mega budget film’s production.