The much anticipated trailer and audio of Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 (PS-1) was unveiled at the Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday, September 6. Actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan were in attendance along with Member of Parliament and writer Su Venkatesan, director Shankar, musicians Yuvan Shankar Raja and Santhosh Narayanan, and various cast members including Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Trisha Krishnan, Karthi and Jayam Ravi. Author of Ponniyin Selvan writer Kalki’s granddaughter Gowri Narayanan was also present during the event. The film is to hit the big screens on September 30 worldwide in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi. Within minutes of being released, the trailer hit nearly three lakh views.
Music composer AR Rahman, who composed music for the film, performed the songs from PS-1 with a live orchestra. The songs Ponni Nadhi and Chola Chola were released last month and were an instant hit. Four more songs from the movie — 'Sol', 'Devaralan Aattam', ‘Raatchasa Maamane’ and 'Alaikadal' — were released on Spotify on Tuesday, September 6.
The trailer of PS1, released in five languages, has been narrated by actor Kamal Haasan in Tamil, Prithviraj Sukumaran in Malayalam, Rana Daggubati in Telugu, Jayant Kaikini for Kannada and Anil Kapoor for Hindi. “As magnificent as it could get! Witness the trailer of #PS1 in 5 languages in the captivating voices of @ikamalhaasan Sir, @AnilKapoor Sir, @RanaDaggubati Sir, @PrithviOfficial Sir and #JayantKaikini Sir! #PonniyinSelvan #ManiRatnam @arrahman @madrastalkies_ @LycaProductions,” (sic), the production house tweeted on Monday.
As magnificent as it could get!
— Lyca Productions (@LycaProductions) September 5, 2022
Witness the trailer of #PS1 in 5 languages in the captivating voices of @ikamalhaasan Sir, @AnilKapoor Sir, @RanaDaggubati Sir, @PrithviOfficial Sir and #JayantKaikini Sir!#PonniyinSelvan #ManiRatnam @arrahman @madrastalkies_ @LycaProductions pic.twitter.com/KhBWbl2JP5
Ponniyin Selvan marks 30 years of collaboration between director Mani Ratnam and AR Rahman, after the two first worked together for Roja. To mark the occasion, singers put on live performance of ARR’s greatest 90s hits on stage during the event.
Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 is based on the first two novels of Ponniyin Selvan written by Kalki Krishnamurthy published in 1954. The story revolves around Vanthiyathevan, who travels to the Chola kingdom to deliver a message from the crown prince Aditya Karikalan, and the events that unfold after that. Actors Vikram and Karthi are playing Aditya Karikalan and the warrior prince Vallavaraiyan Vanthiyathevan respectively, and Aishwarya Rai and Trisha are playing the roles of Nandini and Chola princess Kundavai Pirattiyar respectively. Jayam Ravi will be playing he role of Arulmozhi Varman or Ponniyin Selvan, who later came to be known as Raja Raja Chola.
National Award-winning art director Thotta Tharani is in charge of production design and editor Sreekar Prasad is handling its editing. The film, which is said to be a dream project of director Mani Ratnam, is one of the most expensive projects ever undertaken in the country. The screenplay has been written by director Mani Ratnam along with writers Jeyamohan and Kumaravel. The cast also includes Sobhita Dhulipala, Sarath Kumar, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Prabhu, Sarathkumar, Parthiban, Vikram Prabhu, Prakash Raj, Jayaram, Jayachitra, Rahman, Ashwin Kakumanu, Kishore, Nizhalgal Ravi, and Vinodhini. The teaser of the movie was launched on July 9, and made viewers speculate high action battle scenes, sea voyages, sieges and political drama.
Watch: Trailer of Ponniyin Selvan, Part 1, in the voice of actor Kamal Haasan