Talk about the Cholas has been running wild as the movie Ponniyin Selvan is all set to release on September 30th. The movie revolves around the Chola empire and mostly about Ponniyin Selvan, also known as Raja Raja Chozhan or Arunmozhi Varman. Ponniyin Selvan is originally a Tamil novel based on the life of Raja Raja Chola, written by Kalki. While there have been several attempts in the past to make it a film, Mani Ratnam has now started this project, which will be released in two parts. Starring Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Aishwarya Rai, Aishwarya Lekshmi and Sarathkumar in lead roles, this is considered Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus. Jayam Ravi is said to play Arun Mozhi Varman, while Trisha plays his sister Kundavai. Karthi will be seen as Vanthiya Thevan, while Aishwarya Rai will be Nandini. Jayaram, Prakash Raj, Lal and Kishore will be playing prominent roles.

The lead actors and actresses revealed that the director gives them a lot of space and a chance to explore their characters. Actress Aishwarya Rai said that Mani Ratnam’s film has always been so different and iconic. The actress revealed that while shooting for the film, no one even knew when the shot was complete and it has been the same since her first film ‘Iruvar’ in Tamil with Mani Ratnam. “We will be figuring out how to do the scene and after completing the shot, we will still be thinking what to do and by the time we wonder if it was done right, he will have already moved to the next scene. We will look around and even will ask DOP Ravi Varman if it’s done,” Aishwarya said.

Aishwarya Rai also opened up about her daughter Aaradhya’s favourite time on the sets. Aishwarya said that her daughter was mesmerized when she got the opportunity to visit the sets. She further added that Aaradhya has already imbibed the admiration Aish has for Ratnam. “She respects him and she is in awe of him. And his affection is so sweet. And what excited her the most was when one day she came on set and he gave her the opportunity to say action. She couldn’t get over it. She’s like ‘Sir gave me the opportunity to say that!’ And we were like none of has got the opportunity either so that is the most cherished memory and really precious. She already values it and I think with growing years more so, it will be a much-cherished memory,” said the actress.