Ponniyin Selvan 2 receives a positive response upon its release.
Karthi exclusively reveals to News18 Showsha that Mani Ratnam may not be directing these spin-offs, but other filmmakers are in the works.
Last year, filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s most ambitious project, Ponniyin Selvan I, hit theaters. It grossed over Rs 500 crore and became the highest grossing Tamil film of 2022. Ponniyin Selvan II was released last Friday (April 28) and within two days broke the coveted mark of Rs 100 crore at the global box office . Undoubtedly, the release of Ponniyin Selvan marks a turning point in Tamil cinema, as filmmakers of all generations planned to make a screen adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthy’s 1955 novel of the same name.
So when Mani Ratnam presented the story of Ponniyin Selvan on the 70mm screen, fans were impressed. From the characters and costumes to the music, depicted love stories and elaborate war sequences, audiences were mesmerized. Mani might have condensed Kalki’s novel into two cinematic parts, but that only left viewers wanting more. And the conversations on social media about spin-off movies don’t seem to be dying down anytime soon.
In an exclusive chat with News18, Chiyaan Vikram, who played Aditha Karikalan, and Karthi, who tried out for the role of Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan, in the magnum opus share their thoughts on the potential Ponniyin Selvan spinoff. “It’s a universe that started 70 years ago and we’re all part of it. There are so many stories and books on it. If we delete a chapter, we can make a movie out of it. We have divided everything into two parts. It should have been four or five parts”, declares the actor of Raavanan (2010) and Pithamagan (2003).
Talking about the spinoffs he would like to see as an audience, Vikram adds, “There are so many stories. I might have a back story. There may be a story of Arunmozhi and what he does after the movie ends. There may be a story about Vallavaraiyan’s journey. Even if we don’t recreate what’s in the book and fictionalize some things, there’s still so much to work on.
Karthi reveals that Mani may not be directing these spin-offs but other filmmakers are in the process of directing them. “Fans have always wanted standalone films for all of these characters. I think future directors could just explore these spinoffs. All the characters are so well written. I think a lot of filmmakers are already thinking about that,” he remarks.
Vikram is overwhelmed with the love each character has received, and he is confident that each character’s subsequent spinoffs will surely strike a chord with audiences. “They might be Karthi’s fans but they might admire Arunmozhi Varman. The bond is so strong that you prefer to support the character of Jayam (Ravi) rather than that of Karthi. My fans, similarly, could support Karthi’s character. It’s so good. They will not change loyalties. We don’t have fan wars but there is a lot of discussion about which is better than the other. Most of the time it’s not our fans but the fans of our characters. We all bathed in the shadow of our respective characters and we love it.
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