Agencies
Mumbai, July 23: The latest buzz is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has joined the sets of director Mani Ratnam’s upcoming magnum opus, Ponniyin Selvan.
Last week, the production of the period fantasy drama began after the Tamil Nadu government relaxed the lockdown restrictions, paving the way for the resumption of the film shootings.
Ponniyin Selvan filming is going on at a brisk pace at a set in Pondicherry. Before the second wave of the coronavirus interrupted the production, the filmmakers had shot about 75 per cent of the film.
The rest of the shoot will be completed in about 50 days. It is said Mani Ratnam has planned to wrap up the shoot by the end of August. Ponniyin Selvan marks Aishwarya’s fourth collaboration with Mani Ratnam. The actor-director duo has worked in Iruvar, Guru and Raavanan in the past. All of their previous films have been milestones in cinema history.
Aishwarya had earlier shared a new title poster of Ponniyin Selvan. “The Golden Era comes to Life Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan,” she wrote on her Instagram page, revealing that the costume drama will be released in two parts.
The first film of the series will open in cinemas next year.
Ponniyin Selvan is director Mani Ratnam‘s most ambitious movie yet. The film is based on iconic writer Kalki Krishnamurthy’s historical fiction novel of the same name.
Set in the backdrop of Chola Dynasty, the epic novel has been adapted for the big screen by Ratnam along with writer B. Jeyamohan, who has penned dialogues for the movie.
Ratnam has put together an all-star cast to match the size, scale and scope that the novel represents. Besides Aishwarya Rai, the film also boasts of Vikram, Trisha, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Lal, Sarath Kumar, Jayaram, Vikram Prabhu, Prabhu, Ashwin Kakumanu, Kishore and Aishwarya Lekshmi among others.