Ponniyin Selvan: 300 dancers unite to pull off one song in Mani Ratnam's adaptation of the epic Tamil novel

Here's what we know of a song in Ponniyin Selvan that took about 25 days to shoot, involving 300 dancers.

Ponniyin Selvan star cast/Twitter

Mani Ratnam's adaptation of Ponniyin Selvan (The son of Ponni, or the river Kaveri), filmed in five languages and released in two parts, is one of the most costly Indian films, with an estimated budget of close to Rs 500 crore. The first part (PS-1) will hit the big screens on September 30. With promotions going on in full swing, we learn that for a song, team Mani Ratnam brought together 300 dancers; of which 100 are from Mumbai, and was shot in 25 days.

Hearsay is that the song, mounted on a grand scale, was filmed in six to seven schedules. According to reports, this visually-rich number, composed by AR Rahman, will be released soon.

Written by journalist Kalki Krishnamurthy, Ponniyin Selvan was serialised in 1950 in the magazine he co-founded and edited. Running into five volumes, Ponniyin Selvan is set in the Chola empire.

The film features a star cast, including Vikram, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha, Jayam Ravi, Vikram Prabhu, and Aishwarya Lekshmi, Prabhu, Parthiban, Jayaram, Prakash Raj, Lal, Sarath Kumar, and Ashwin Kakamanu. Shot across India, Ponniyin Selvan had wrapped up production in September last year.

The film will see Vikram as Aditya Karikalan, Karthi as Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Queen Nandini, Trisha as Princess Kundavai, Jayaram as Azhwarkadiyan Nambi and Jayam Ravi as titular character Ponniyin Selvan.

Bankrolled by Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions, Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan will release in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.

The film also has Ravi Varman on cinematography and Sreekar Prasad on editing.

Notably, Kamal Haasan is said to have given the voiceover, narrating the film’s introduction. If this was true, Ponniyin Selvan would mark the second collaboration of Mani Ratnam and the actor-politician, after Nayakan (1987). However, we await an official confirmation.

The film has a screenplay by Mani Ratnam, Jeyamohan and Kumaravel. The lyrics of the songs are penned by Elango Krishnan, Kabilan, Siva Ananth and Krithika Nelson.

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