Chennai: Mani Ratnam's magnum opus 'Ponniyin Selvan' is expected to bring back the era of the Chola dynasty. The crew has now released Aishwarya Lekshmi's look as Samudrakumari Poonguzhali in the film.
Lyca Productions took to Twitter and wrote: "Soft as the wind, mighty as the ocean! Meet Aishwarya Lekshmi as Samudrakumari Poonguzhali."
According to the books, Poonguzhali is the wife of Senthan Amruthan, a Chola emperor. She is also friends with one of the protagonists Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan, a commander of the Chola army. Born in Ariyalur, a territory of the Chola Empire to a boatman, she was a boatwoman. Her occupation was to sail in the sea.
She is known to sail to Sri Lanka without her father's permission in search of solace. Her life of adventures begins after meeting Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan when she rescues him from drowning in the Indian Ocean.
The first looks of Sarathkumar and Parthiban were disclosed earlier. The tweet read: "Meet the fearless protectors of Chola pride! Presenting Sarathkumar as Periya Pazhuvettarayar and R. Parthiepan as Chinna Pazhuvettarayar!"
The film is scheduled to be released in theatres on September 30.
Eminent Tamil writer Kalki wrote the five-part series on the early life of prince Arulmozhi Varman, who later on went on to be known as the great Raja Raja Chozhan. Mani Ratnam has described Ponniyin Selvan as his dream project.
Being one of the most expensive films in India, the film stars Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Trisha, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Jayaram, Parthiban, Lal, Vikram Prabhu, Jayaram, Prabhu, and Prakash Raj. AR Rahman is composing music and Ravi Varman is on camera.