Last year, filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s most ambitious project, Ponniyin Selvan I, hit the theatres. It grossed more than Rs 500 crore and emerged as the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2022. Ponniyin Selvan II released last Friday (April 28) and in two days, has crossed the coveted Rs 100 crore mark at the global box office. Inarguably, the release of Ponniyin Selvan makes for a watershed moment in Tamil cinema as filmmakers across generations had been planning on making a screen adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthy’s 1955 novel of the same name.
So, when Mani Ratnam brought the story of Ponniyin Selvan to the 70mm screen, fans were left in awe. Right from the characters and the costumes to the music, the love stories portrayed and the elaborate war sequences, the audience was mesmerised. Mani might have condensed Kalki’s novel into two cinematic parts but that has only left the viewers wanting for more. And conversations on social media about spin-off films don’t seem to die down anytime soon.
In an exclusive chat with News18, Chiyaan Vikram, who played Aditha Karikalan, and Karthi, who essayed the part of Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan, in the magnum opus share their thoughts on the potential spin-offs of Ponniyin Selvan. “It’s a universe that started 70 years ago and we’re all a part of it. There are so many stories and books on it. If we take out one chapter, we can make a movie out of it. We’ve comprised the whole thing into two parts. It should have been four or five parts,” states the Raavanan (2010) and Pithamagan (2003) actor.
Speaking about the spin-offs that he would like to see as an audience, Vikram adds, “There’s so much story. I could have a back story. There can be a story of Arunmozhi and what he does after the film ends. There can be a story about Vallavaraiyan’s travel. Even if we don’t recreate what’s there in the book and fictionalise some things, there’s still so much stuff to work on.”
Karthi reveals that Mani might not be helming these spin-offs but other filmmakers are in the process of directing them. “Fans have always wanted standalone films for all of these characters. I think upcoming directors in future might just explore these spin-offs. All the characters are so well-written. I think a lot of filmmakers are already thinking about it,” he remarks.
Vikram is overwhelmed with the love that each character has received and he’s confident that the subsequent spin-offs of each character will surely strike a chord with the audience. “They could be Karthi’s fan but they might admire Arunmozhi Varman. The bond is so strong that you would rather support Jayam’s (Ravi) character over Karthi’s. My fans, similarly, might be supporting Karthi’s character. That’s so nice. They won’t shift loyalties. We don’t have fan wars but there’s a lot of discussions happening over what’s better than the other. Most of the times, they aren’t our fans but the fans of our characters. All of us has been basking in the shadows of our respective characters and are loving it.”
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