Ponniyin Selvan
Ponniyin Selvan has garnered critical acclaim for its tightly woven plot, vivid narration, witty dialogue, and portrayal of the intrigues and power struggle of the Chola empire in the 10th-century.
The narrative details attempts by his sister Kundavai to bring back Arulmozhivarman to establish political peace in a land seemingly beset with unrest and civil war plotted by vassals and petty chieftains.
Vallavarayan Vandiyathevan, Crown Prince Aditha Karikalan's messenger, is sent by him to investigate the conspiracy and deliver the news to Sundara Chola and his sister Kundavai.
After seeing the palanquin, Nambi asks if Vandiyathevan can deliver a message to Ilaya Rani ( Nandhini ) if he meets her in Kadambur.
In the meeting, the chieftains take an oath to make Prince Maduranthaka Thevar, Gandaradithya Chola's son as the next king.
After they cross the Kollidam river, Vandiyathevan leaves for Tanjai while Nambi gets a chance to eavesdrop on pandiya spies talking about destroying the Chola kingdom.
Chinna Pazhuvettarayar suspects him and arrests him but Vandiyathevan escapes smartly and climbs a ladder that leads him to Ilaya Rani's latha mandapam.
Ilaya Pirati Kundavai Devi reaches Tanjavur and meets her father Sundara Cholar who is ill and is depressed.
To seek the reason behind it, Kundavai talks with her father and learns that in his youth, Sundara Cholar went to Lanka and falls in love with a deaf-mute woman named Mandakini.
On the way, they see a tall Buddha statue with some clues that invite Ponniyin Selvan to an underground Buddhist monastery where he is offered the Lankan crown but he refuses it.
He opens another exit of the passage that leads to Nandhini's room where he sees Kadhamaaran's sister Manimegalai, who hearing about Vandiyathevan, has fallen in love with him.
Karikalan agrees to crown Maduranthaka as the king but puts in a condition stating that he should be given permission to seize lands towards the north and be the emperor for the places he annexed.
In Kodikarai, Poonguzhali sends Sendhan back to Tanjavur and tries to take her aunt Mandakini to Nagapattinam to meet Ponniyin Selvan.
Kundavai comes to Brahmarayar's home to talk about her father's bad condition and the damage to Chola country because of the flood.
On the same night, Nagapattinam Choodamani Viharam gets drowned while Ponniyin Selvan saves the head Buddhist monk and reaches Aanaimangalam palace.
Along with Vanathi, Ponniyin Selvan reaches Tanjavur, enters the fort as an elephant rider and meets his father Sundara Chola.
Vandiyathevan is put in jail where he meets Paithiyakaran, aka Karuthiruman, who reveals he knows a great secret of the Chola dynasty.
During Ponnoyin Selvan's coronation, he makes Chinna Pazhuvettarayar move away from there and crowns Sendhan Amudhan the real madurantakan.
He bought the film rights to the novel for ₹10,000 (equivalent to ₹960,000 or US$11,000 in 2023), and announced that he would produce, direct and star in the adaptation which would feature an ensemble cast including Gemini Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala Bali, Savitri, and Padmini.
[10][11] Ratnam revealed that he worked on a first draft of the film alongside Kamal Haasan, who had bought the rights of the novel from Ramachandran, but the pair shelved their plan as the project did not make financial sense at the time.
[13] Kamal Haasan then attempted to make the story into a forty-part television series during the early 1990s, and worked with writer Ra.
He revealed that temple officials in Tamil Nadu refused to allow the team to film scenes on the premises and that the expensive cost of producing replica sets meant that it would not be a viable solution.
[17] In 2016, Eros International engaged Jeyamohan and Soundarya Rajinikanth, as a creative producer, to make the book into a web-series but the project did not develop into production.
[18][19] In early 2019, Soundarya Rajinikanth associated with another production house, May 6 Entertainment, and director Sooriyaprathap to make a web-series of the novel for MX Player.
[20] In January 2021, a further adapted web series produced by Eternitee Motion Krafte and directed by Ajay Pratheeb titled Chiranjeevi Ponniyin Selvan was announced.
His two-film adaptation featured an ensemble cast consisting of Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi and Trisha.
[citation needed] Avvai Shanmugam played the role of Maamallan in Kalki's 'Sivakamiyin Sabatham' and the sets were grand, befitting the story.
[28] Again, the book was adapted into a stage play in a very grand scale by SS International Live along with Magic Lantern theatre group in Chennai, in June 2014.
The crew includes Kumaravel, who penned the screenplay & dialogues, Thotta Tharani as art director, Preethi Athreya as costume designer and Bhanu leading the make-up and hair styling department.
[34][35] There are at least six different translations of Ponniyin Selvan available in English by Preetha Rajah Kannan,[31] Indra Neelamegam,[36] Pavithra Srinivasan, CV Karthik Narayanan, Varalotti Rengasamy and Sumeetha Manikandan.
