The magnum opus of Mani Ratnam has been released today and social media stands inundated with fan reactions and reviews. Turns out, Ponniyin Selvan: I has largely amassed rave reviews so far, and that certainly sounds like great news as far as the movie’s box office collections are concerned.

The movie is based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s 1955 novel of the same name. From Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to AR Rahman, the movie’s cast and crew feature some of the finest names in the industry. The storyline follows the life of the Chola emperor Rajaraja and his early life. Made on a reported budget of Rs. 440 crores, Ratnam called the movie his “dream project”. The shoots took place at various locations across India and Thailand.  

Here’s What People Have To Say About The Movie

The digital rights of the film have also been sold to Amazon Prime Video for reportedly Rs. 125 crores and satellite rights have been taken by Sun TV. Initially, the movie was supposed to release in one part but was eventually split in two. During the promotions of part one, Ratnam suggested that the second part of the movie is underway, and would release after nine months.  

During the promotions, Bachchan addressed a question about the north and south debate and said, “I think we need to break away from perceiving artists and cinema in a certain fashion. It’s such a great time right now, where all these barriers have gone down. People know our cinema nationally and in fact, they are hankering and wanting to see cinema from every part. Everybody can view cinema for what it is, across India. So I think we need to break away from this conventional way of thinking and help our viewers, our audiences, and our readers also not slide into that typical way of viewing art. Art has always been there, found the audience, and has been appreciated; so, have the artists. But avenues were limited.” 

She further added, “It is so evident that people are embracing and lapping up cinema from across the country, which is a great time, very liberating for all of us. We collectively need to kind of give more power to this liberation together.” 

Lead Image: Pen India Limited