Ponniyin Selvan: I is a
forthcoming Indian Tamil-language epic period action film, directed by Mani
Ratnam
and written jointly by Elango Kumaravel and B. Jeyamohan. It is the
first of the two film adaptations of Kalki Krishnamurthy’s 1955 novel Ponniyin
Selvan, and it is produced by Ratnam and Subaskaran Allirajah under the banners
of Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions. 

Release
Date

The movie will release on
September 30, 2022 and the film stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Vikram, Jayam
Ravi, Karthi, and Trisha.

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Shooting Locations

The main shoot of the film
started on December 11, 2019 at Krabi, Kanchanaburi and other places in
Thailand where the crew decided for a 40-day shooting schedule. The filmmakers
originally intended to film the second schedule in Chennai in January 2020, but
ultimately chose Puducherry. The second schedule of filming started on February
3, 2020, and after six days, the team flew to Hyderabad. In this new location,
the crew had intended to shoot at Ramoji Film Studio. The second schedule was
finally concluded on February 26, 2020. 

Before the shooting was interrupted
on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the portions of the entire shoot were
completed in 90 days. 

In September 2020, the
director decided to restart the shooting in Sri Lanka. However, as there were
restrictions on international travel, they could not get the permission for
that. Thus, they shot most of the portions of the film in India. Mani Ratnam
had to further alter his plans on his chosen locations even within the country
because of the restrictions. 

On December 10, 2020, the
lead actors of the film engaged in a minor filming schedule in Pollachi

Finally, after a nine-month
gap, the shooting of the film began in a full-fledged way from January 6, 2021,
at Ramoji Film Studio, Hyderabad. 

The next schedule of shooting
was also delayed due to the second wave of Covid-19. The plans to film in the
North Indian states were changed and South Indian locations were chosen. 

This time, the filming
resumed from July 2021. In this schedule, the shooting locations included
Puducherry,  Orchha, and Gwalior. 

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The team traveled to
Maheshwar for shooting a part that primarily involves Trisha and Karthi. 

Budget

The two-part franchise,
described as a game-changer for Indian films in general, was shot on a budget
of five billion rupees to produce and its OTT streaming rights alone were for
1.25 billion rupees.