Mani Ratnam's magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan's trailer is out and the three-minute-long grand video promises a larger-than-life story.
The Tamil trailer narrated by Kamal Hassan introduced several, but not all, major characters of the film. It also introduced the massive kingdom and successfully portrays the richness of the region. The fighting sequences promise action and suspense in the film as well.
The video begins by introducing the era and kingdom. The story is set a thousand years ago before the dawn of the golden era of the Chola dynasty.
It is seen that a comet is appearing in the sky which, as per the oracle, demands the sacrifice of royal Chola blood. The following visuals signal a raging battle both on land and sea. Vengeance and rivalry are set to rip the kingdom apart, says the narrator.
The trailer soon introduces characters Aditya Karikalan played by Vikram, Jayam Ravi played by Arunmozhi Varman, Vanthiyathevan played by Karthi, Trisha as Kundaval, and Nandini played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Jayaram, Rahman, and Sobhita Dhulipala also make an appearance in the video. It ends with Nandini staring at an empty throne.
The film is based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1955 novel Ponniyin Selvan (translating to Son of Ponni). Jayam Ravi is playing the titular role in the story which speaks of the early days in the life of Arulmozhivarman who later became the great Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I.
The historical fiction work is considered to be among the greatest in Tamil literature.
The first part of the film is set to release on September 30 in five languages - Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada.