Celluloid Closure For A Waiting Cult

Finally, a Mani Ratnam film to add to the cult of Kalki’s stupendous episodic novel.

- G.C. Shekhar

SOME stories grow so big, they become inevitable. Tamil Nadu’s phenomenally popular epic novel Ponniyin Selvan (The Son of Ponni) is one such tale. The epi­ sodic novel written in the 1950s by R.A. Krishnamurthy under his pen name ‘Kalki’, for his weekly called Kalki, has been presented through various forms over the dec­ades: stage plays, picture books, even an ani­mation series in recent years. But, a series of missed chances had still kept it out of the grasp of the formidable Tamil film industry.

It was, of course, not for lack of trying. Once, the legendary MGR had promised and even publicised a movie based on the novel. But things did not work out. After all, spread over five volumes and about 2,400 pages, Ponniyin Selvan is also a formidable tale to tell. MGR had made his movie announcement back in the 1950s. Now, in a new age, or should we say, the post-Baahubali age, Mani Ratnam has finally assembled a team to give shape to this mega creation with the shoot expected to commence in 2020 once the cast, screenplay and pre-production preparations are in place. Like Baahubali, Ratnam’s magnum opus is also expected in two parts as it has to do justice to the long storyline packed with twists and turns and the numerous characters (at least 40 main characters) without sacrificing the authenticity of the novel.