After the blockbuster success of Ponniyin Selvan: I, the audiences have been keenly awaiting the release of its sequel Ponniyin Selvan 2. The Mani Ratnam magnum opus will hit the theatres worldwide on April 28 and a month ahead of its release, the makers unveiled the trailer and audio of PS-2 at a grand event in Chennai's Nehru Indoor Stadium on Wednesday, March 29.
The Ponniyin Selvan films are adapted from Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1955 novel of the same name, which was based on the war of succession in one of the strongest dynasties in the world - the Cholas. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, R Sarathkumar, and Prakash Raj portray major historical characters.
The war of succession continues in Ponniyin Selvan 2 as seen in the trailer. After Arulmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi) is presumed to be dead after the climax of the first film, Aditya Karikalan takes it upon himself to defend the Chola kingdom from the enemies and schemes of Nandini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan).
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Several artists such as M. G. Ramachandran, Kamal Haasan, and Rajinikanth had tried to adapt the Ponniyin Selvan novel into a film in the last six decades but failed due to financial constraints. Finally, Mani Ratnam succeeded in his endeavour. The National Award-winning filmmaker had initially planned his 'dream project' as a single film but later decided to split it into two parts.
The first part, released on September 30 last year, broke several box office records and earned more than Rs 500 crore worldwide at the box office. Ponniyin Selvan: I also became the second-highest-grossing Tamil film of all time after Shankar's 2018 science-fiction film 2.0 starring Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar. The Enthiran sequel collected above Rs 700 crore worldwide.
Originally made in Tamil, Ponniyin Selvan 2 will also be released in dubbed versions in Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, and Kannada language on April 28. The AR Rahman musical is bankrolled by by Mani Ratnam’s own banner Madras Talkies and Allirajah Subaskaran’s Lyca Productions.
