Aishwarya Rai shares Ponniyin Selvan poster, says ‘golden era comes to life’. Fans call her ‘queen in true sense’

Aishwarya Rai, who was last seen on the big screen in Fanney Khan in 2018, is set to make a comeback with Mani Ratnam’s period epic Ponniyin Selvan. On Monday, she took to Instagram to share a poster of the film and revealed that the first instalment will be out in 2022. It will reportedly be made in two parts.

“The Golden Era comes to Life. Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan PS1,” Aishwarya Rai wrote, sharing the Ponniyin Selvan poster on Instagram. The film also stars Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Trisha Krishnan and Mohan Babu.

Fans were excited about Aishwarya’s next release. “Congratulations Queen. At the age of 47 years .. you are doing most expensive film of Indian cinema. Queen in true senses,” one commented on the post. “Wow Great ! Really it’s A Golden Era,” another said. “Bestest Gift which u @aishwaryaraibachchan_arb could give to us. We all love you,” a third wrote.

Reportedly, the shoot of Ponniyin Selvan resumed in Puducherry last week. A majority of the film has already been shot in Thailand and Hyderabad.

Aishwarya has worked with Mani Ratnam on films such as Guru, Raavan and Iruvar. In an earlier interview with The Hindu, she was asked about having to not only do a lot of research for her character in Ponniyin Selvan but also work on the Tamil language. “Working with him (Mani) is like going back to school, and whatever you’re saying goes with the territory,” she said.

Ponniyin Selvan is based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s Tamil historical fiction novel, which chronicles the story of the early days of Arulmozhivarman, one of the most powerful kings in the south, who went on to become the great Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I. The film is jointly produced by Mani Ratnam’s banner Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions.