Mani Ratnam’s period drama Ponniyin Selvan I has been doing excellent business at the box office and has now achieved yet another milestone! The Chola period drama is inching closer to minting Rs 475 crore worldwide. Being screened across all theatres in Tamil Nadu, the Mani Ratnam magnum opus has become the first Tamil film to cross Rs 200 crores at the Tamil Nadu box office. 

Last week, the film had become the highest-grossing film in Tamil Nadu beating Kamal Haasan’s action-thriller ‘Vikram’.  Besides Tamil, the film was released in Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam languages.

The historical drama based on Kalki’s epic of the same name features Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Jayaram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Trisha in lead roles. The film also marks Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s comeback to movies after a long break.  The novel’s onscreen adaptation was attempted several times previously including by Ratnam but none materialized.

The first part of the two-part franchise has been said to have invested Rs 500 crore for the make. The second part is set to release in six to nine months from now, director Ratnam revealed adding that the sequel’s post-production work is currently ongoing.

The film released in theatres on September 30, clashing with Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan’s ‘Vikram Vedha’.