Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus 'Ponniyin Selvan' eyeing big Diwali release?
The shoot of Mani Ratnam’s upcoming magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan, which resumed recently in Hyderabad after nearly 10 months, is most likely to complete its entire talkie portion by March. If the industry grapevine is anything to go by, the team is eyeing a big Diwali release and an official announcement regarding the release date will be made soon.
The shoot is currently underway in Hyderabad’s Ramoji Film City. A few months ago, it was reported that the team will travel to Sri Lanka for the next schedule but the makers decided to postpone the international trip by a few months due to the pandemic. The cast so far includes Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Vikram Prabhu, Amitabh Bachchan, Mohan Babu and Aishwarya Rai among others. Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who has already confirmed that she is part of the project, will be seen playing dual roles in the highly anticipated project, according to trusted sources.
The title poster of the film was released earlier this year in January. As per the poster, A R Rahman has been roped in for the music, Ravi Varman for cinematography, Sreekar Prasad for editing, Thota Tharani for production design and writer Jeyamohan for dialogues. Sharing credits for the screenplay along with Mani Ratnam is Kumaravel. Eka Lakhani will take care of costumes while Vikram Gaikwad is in charge of the makeup. Brinda has been roped in for choreography while Sham Kaushal will take care of the action sequences. The film is being jointly produced by Mani Ratnam and Lyca Productions. Siva Ananth is the film’s executive producer.
Meanwhile, reports have emerged that Mani Ratnam is all set to make his digital debut via a web series that will also be co-directed by Gautham Menon, Karthick Naren and Bejoy Nambiar among others. Ratnam has reportedly been signed for a series, which will be based on the Navarasas and will consist of nine episodes. Nine filmmakers are tipped to come together for this project.
The report added that filmmakers such as Gautham Menon, Karthick Naren, Bejoy Nambiar, and actor Arvind Swamy are a few among the nine, finalised to helm the series. Apparently, part of the income from the series will be given to workers of the Tamil industry, who have been jobless over the last few months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Content provided by Digital Native