Seven months after the release of Ponniyin Selvan: I, the second instalment in the franchise that chronicles the illustrious Chola Dynasty is all set to hit the theatres. The first part emerged as the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2022 and needless to say, the expectations and intrigue surrounding Ponniyin Selvan: II are sky high.
Interestingly, legendary actor and politician Marudhur Gopalan Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, was the first actor to announce the adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthy’s epic novel in 1959. Despite getting the official rights, he was unsuccessful in turning Ponniyin Selvan into a big-screen spectacle. MGR passed the baton to actor-filmmaker-politician Kamal Hasaan, who revealed his plans to make the movie in 1989, two years after MGR passed away. He was supposed to produce and act in the two-part film and had even selected his lead cast – Rajinikanth, Sathyaraj and Prabhu – and wanted filmmaker Mani Ratnam to direct it. However, his plans didn’t materialise.
And now, in an exclusive interaction with News18, actor Chiyaan Vikram, who plays Aditha Karikalan in the film, reveals that Haasan was also planning on making a television show on Ponniyin Selvan and had reached out to Vikram to play one of the primary characters. Talking about it, he tells us, “The interesting thing that happened was that, long back, Kamal sir called me to his office and told me that he wants to produce Ponniyin Selvan. He wanted to do it for television. He told me, ‘I would like you to do a role… You can do whichever role you want.’ So, I was given the chance to do any of the three roles. I told him that I would read the books.”
However, Vikram had to turn Haasan’s offer down as he didn’t want to be a part of the epic project for the small screen. He continues, “He had said, ‘As an actor, I may not want to do it but you think about it since it’s for TV and take a call.’ The next day, I got back to him and told him that I would wait for it to come to the big screen. It’s very strange that I’ve always been on somebody’s mind for Ponniyin Selvan. But it’s a nice thought.”
Haasan went on to don the hat of the narrator in the 2022 film and post its success, hosted a press meet for the unit of Ponniyin Selvan: I. Vikram feels it was a ‘gracious’ move by him considering their film was competing with Haasan’s action-thriller Vikram co-starring Fahadh Faasil and Vijay Sethupathi. “After many decades, Vikram had become his biggest grosser. Ours was at a nail biting finish and we were coming closer to Vikram. He had no reason to do it. Vikram had become the biggest all-time grosser in Tamil. But he told everyone to watch Ponniyin Selvan: I and that all of us actors have done a great job in the film. We were shocked and stunned!” elaborates the Pithamagan (2003) and Raavanan (2010) actor.
He further adds, “Nobody does that. I wouldn’t do that. For all you know, his words could have given us an extra push which would beat his own film. It was really magnanimous of him. And this had nothing to do with him giving his voice to Ponniyin Selvan: I.”
Ponniyin Selvan 2 is presented by Subaskaran’s Lyca Productions. Jointly produced by Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions, it has its music composed by AR Rahman with lyrics penned by Gulzar. The epic historical action adventure is slated for a worldwide release on April 28 in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Ponniyin Selvan 2 also stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha Krishnan, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Lekshmi and Sobhita Dhulipala.
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