Produced by Ratnam and Allirajah Subaskaran under Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions, it is the first of two cinematic parts based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s 1955 novel Ponniyin Selvan and had released in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi in cinemas.
The film stars an ensemble cast of Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Prabhu, R. Sarathkumar, Vikram Prabhu, Jayaram, Prakash Raj, Rahman and R. Parthiban.
Ratnam who started his career with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi, entered Tamil cinema with Pagal Nilavu (1985) starring Murali and Revathi in lead roles and Idaya Kovil, a romantic drama. In 1986, Ratnam directed the Tamil romantic drama Mouna Ragam, starring Revathi and Mohan which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil that year and followed it with Nayakan starring Kamal Haasan in 1987, inspired by the 1972 Hollywood crime film, The Godfather, a huge box office success that brought him national recognition.
His other films over the years include Agni Natchathiram in 1988 which deals with the story of step-brothers played by Prabhu and Karthik, Telugu movie Geethanjali starring Nagarjuna and Girija Shettar, Anjali (1990) starring Raghuvaran and Revathy, India’s official entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category that year, Thalapathi (1991), starring Rajinikanth and Mammootty, Roja, a romantic film starring Arvind Swamy and Madhoo, black comedy Thiruda Thiruda (1993), Bombay starring Swamy and Manisha Koirala, Dil Se.. starring Shah Rukh Khan and Koirala, Guru, a biographical film based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani and crime thriller Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, among others.
