‘Ponniyin Selvan: I’: ‘If you have the right cast, then every character stands out,’ says Mani Ratnam

Mani Ratnam's magnum opus ‘Ponniyin Selvan: I' is slated to open in theatres on September 30 and fans are very excited about it. Its advance booking was opened on Sunday, September 25, and the numbers are quite good.

In a recent interview, the filmmaker Mani Ratnam opened up about his first epic period drama and said, ‘The issues are all real and relevant even today. It was there 1,000 years ago and a lot of this is still common. The politics, struggle for power, and agony it brings… Every person will be able to identify with something or the other in the film.’

In an interview with PTI, Ratnam discussed his passion for making this movie which is based on a Tamil Novel of the same name. He said, ‘It was the first big Tamil adventure that I was reading and it was fascinating. He had written in such a fashion that it was a spectacle and very vivid. I could visualise while reading it.’

He also talked about the cast of the film ‘Ponniyin Selvan: I' and said, ‘We had Vikram first, it was a difficult role. It is important to have actors who believe in the film… If you have the right cast, then every character stands out.’

The fimmaker also talked about working with Shah Rukh Khan again. In an interview with Pinkvilla he said, ‘You should ask Shah Rukh... I should have a script ready for him, that’s when I can go to him. So it’s all a function of a script. We just met each other in a function, that’s all. Like I am telling you it’s driven by an idea of a script. Once you have an idea for which Shah Rukh will be right, then I’ll go and ask him.’ He has worked with SRK in ‘Dil Se.’

Mani Ratnam splitted the film ‘Ponniyin Selvan:I' into two parts. Reportedly, the two-part franchise has been shot on a budget of Rs 500 crore. The cast includes Chiyaan Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Jayaram, and Kishore among others.

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