Actor and former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran, actor Kamal Hassan and renowned director Mani Ratnam have all tried at some point to bring alive Kalki Krishnamurthy’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan in celluloid.
Now, Eros International Media Ltd, with Soundarya Rajinikant as Director, Creative and Strategy, heading the company’s digital initiatives, including ErosNow in South India, has launched a mega project to present the history surrounding Raja Raja, the great Chola Emperor, in episodes, but essentially for the virtual world.
“Instead of telecasting or releasing as VCDs, the company has plans to upload it on the Internet. Since it is to be priced per episode, one can pay and download each and every episode,” said a source from the unit.
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Condensing five volumes into a two-and-half hour movie has always been a challenge, and many had tried their hanḍ. MGR roped in Tamil film director Mahendran, who made some of the brilliant movies in Tamil including
Mahendran had earlier worked as an associate director of MGR-starrer Kanchi Thalaivan, and on more than one occasion recalled the days he worked with the legend for the film. MGR arranged to have him stay in his own bungalow as he sat down to write the screenplay. The renowned director completed the script in three months. But the making of the film kept getting delayed, and it never saw the light of the day.
For long, Kamal Hassan has been keen on not only making a film but also donning the lead role, but somehow his plans have not materialised so faṛ.
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Recently, Mani Ratnam made some progress. Tamil writer Jayamohan wrote the script and actor Vijay showed a lot of enthusiasm in acting in the film. That also came a cropper due to a slew of reasons, including the huge financial commitment required.
Interestingly, EROS too has engaged writer Jayamohan and a team is in place to launch the project. “We are preparing ourselves for the shoot,” said a source in Eros International.