Tamil iconic writer Kalki’s historical fiction Ponniyin Selvan serialised in the Tamil magazine Kalki for three-and-half years in 1950s still retains its appeal for countless readers in Tamil Nadu. Drawing heavily on historical accounts of the Chola regime from the middle of the 9th to the 13th...
Historical film Ponniyin Selvan-I, has taken the tinsel town by surprise, reportedly raking in nearly Rs. 500 crore in India and $6 million at the U.S. box office within one month of its release. Kalki’s novel, though film material, was not originally expected to cook up a storm on celluloid....
The films of Vetrimaaran have politics. His movies are to do with power, authority and a politics against it In Adukulam, he explored the power dynamic between the guru and the disciple. In Visaranai, he critiqued lawless authoritarianism. In Vada Chennai, he talked about political forces...
Mani Ratnam was a pioneer in making a south Indian film have a pan-India appeal. His Roja rode the nationalist surge earlier than most filmmakers. The challenge for him now is in making Ponniyin Selvan, quintessentially a Tamil story, pan-India. If Ponniyin Selvan were to go the Bahubali way,...
