New Delhi

Mani Ratnam's latest 'Ponniyin Selvan-1' may be set thousands of years ago, but the legendary filmmaker says the film's emotions are inherent to human beings in every era and hence the film holds relevance. 

Advertisment

Ratnam along with the film's cast including Chiyan Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha Krishnan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi and Sobhitha Dhuliapala were in New Delhi on Monday to promote the film. The magnum opus releases in theatres in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi on September 30. 'Ponniyin Selvan-1' also known as PS-1 is based on a five-part novel series of the same name. The series was published in 1955 and is considered a classic in Tamil literature. 

"It is set a thousand years back, written 70 years back but it is totally relevant today," told Ratnam to WION at the press meet. "Whatever the film speaks about, remains relevant. That is why so many attempts have been made to make a film out of the books- in the 1960s, '70s, '80s, 1990s - it was relevant in all those periods," Ratnam added. 

The filmmaker added that human emotions remain the same - no matter the era the story is set in. "There are some elements which don't change. Human nature doesn't change, you know the struggle for power and growth, angst, desire, and jealousy doesn't change. All those are inherent to human nature," the maker added.

Advertisment

The story was written in the 1950s when society was largely different from what it is now. Did he have to tweak it to suit the taste of the audience in today's time?

"The beauty of the book is that it captures all these emotions. The soul and heart of the books are something that has stayed this long. It was difficult to adapt it because it was relevant for today or not. It is absolutely relevant.  It was difficult to adapt it because it was written so beautifully," the filmmaker added.

The film's leading hero Vikram chimed in that he felt that the film's characters were bound by a common theme of love. "All the characters in the film are driven by love. Love for power, love for sibling, for husband- all kinds. But they are bound by the common theme of love- which is universal," the actor said. 

Advertisment

Actor Karthi added that the story, originally written by Kalki, transcends age groups. "My 9-year-old daughter has started reading the books and she is addicted."

Set in the Chola Kingdom, the story of 'Pooniyin Selvan-1' is about power struggle for the throne. Ratnam revealed he had read the books when he was in school and had wanted to make a film around it when he started making films a few decades back. He even attempted to make one in the early 2000s but was not able to. 

Kalki's book series is considered a classic in Tamil literature and several filmmakers over the years have tried to make films around them but have remained unsuccessful. 

Ratnam said it was a task to translate a five-part book series into two-part films. There will be a second part of the film although no details on it have yet been shared by the makers.