All about 'Ponniyin Selvan' the book series on which Mani Ratnam's film is based

Mani Ratnam's magnum opus 'Poniyin Selvan-1' is just a day away from its theatrical release. The filmmaker's dream project is based on a popular novel series by the same name written way back in 1950 by author Kalki Krishnamurthy (1899-1954).

Ratnam's film is a multi -starrer and features prominent Indian actors like stars Vikram, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Prabhu, R Sarathkumar, Vikram Prabhu, Prakash Raj, Rahman, and R Parthiban. It is Ratnam's most ambitious project to date and the filmmaker had attempted to make it initially in the 1990s but was unable to due to budget constraints.

Ratnam has adapted the five-part series into two-part films. Reports state Ratnam has already shot the second part of the film.

The famous novel is about 2200 pages and is based on Chola king Arunmozhi Varman's life.

What is the novel about?

'Ponniyin Selvan' literally means son of Ponni(River Cauvery). Written by freedom fighter Kalki Krishnamurthy, the story first appeared as a weekly column in the Tamil magazine Kalki. Because of its immense popularity, which doubled the sale of the magazine, the story was later published as a five-part novel in 1955.

It narrates the early life of Rajaraja 1, born as Arunmozhi Varman and considered one of the greatest Chola kings ever. The story is roughly based in the 10th century. He is popularly known for building the great Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, the Chola capital city.

Interestingly, while it is widely known that Kalki's book is not entirely factual, historians stated that the author had beautifully blended many widely known events from the pages of history into his novel.

The book is considered a classic in Tamil literature and has been praised widely for drawing out the cultural and heritage through a narrative set in the Chola kingdom. The book's readership transcends age- from 90 to 9. According to some reports, the book still sells around 100, 000 copies annually.

About the author

R Krishnamurthy was a freedom fighter and was known by his pen name Kalki Krishnamurthy. He was born ina poor family and reportedly quit school early to follow Mahatma Gandhi's principle of non-cooperation. He was born in 1895 in Thanjavur village.

He wrote for several magazines including Vimochanam, C Rajagopalachari’s anti-liquor magazine. He eventually became a celebrated writer when he joined Amanda Vikatan a magazine that gained popularity under his leadership.

About the film

Considering the book has been one of the most iconic pieces of literature, several filmmakers have tried to make a film around it but have been unable to so far. Mani Ratnam too had attempted to make a film in the early 1990s but could not due to budget constraints.

The first attempt was made by MGR who after the success of Nadodi Mannan- another book written by Kalki- wanted to repeat the same success story.

MGR had even obtained the rights of the book for a limited period from the family of the author and the movie was to release in 1959 but MGR's busy schedule and massive box office hits made MGR stray away from his dream project. Eventually, his rights over the book lapsed.

Reports also claim that Kamal Haasan had too attempted top adapt the book for the big screen but was unable to.

Ratnam in fact had attempted to make the film twice- once in 1994 and then in 2011 but was unable to.

While Ratnam has finally been able to make his dream project and cast some of the biggest names in the industry, what remains to be seen is whether the film will be an appropriate adaptation of the classic.