Exclusive! Sarath Kumar on working with Mani Ratnam for Ponniyin Selvan

Sarath Kumar, who had a formidable run as a lead actor in the 90s and the 2000s, is adapting well with his transition as a character artiste too. The actor recently made his Telugu OTT debut with Parampara, a web show streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. While the actor has a handful of releases in his kitty in 2022, the biggest of them all is unsurprisingly, Ponniyin Selvan, helmed by Mani Ratnam, the adaptation of legendary Tamil writer Kalki Krishnamurthy's novel written many decades ago. The veteran, cast in the role of Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar, opened up about the two-part film in a conversation with OTTplay.

"I can't thank my stars enough to be a part of the film. We've completed shooting for both the parts and the artistes have finished dubbing for as well. Many filmmakers wanted to do the film in the past and couldn't but it took a Mani Ratnam to pull it off. That alone deserves immense credit. If not for Mani Ratnam, it wouldn't have been possible to rope in all the stars in the movie," the actor spoke about his first collaboration with Mani Ratnam over a three-decade career in films.

He admits that the expectations for the film would be huge but is confident that it will live up to the hype. "Working in the film was a great experience and being part of an adaptation of a novel that's so well read by the Tamil population. They know every character well and it has been performed on stage on many occasions. Everybody is eagerly waiting for it and it's a film that'll make them throng the theatres at least once," Sarath Kumar said. 

"If a film convinces audiences to watch in theatres, there's no stopping it. The content, filmmaking nuances, and performances will do the talking and help the film stand on its own later. Initially itself, there's so much anticipation around it that people will watch the film at any cost. It's fantastic to be a part of it," he added. Sarath Kumar was also part of a Mani Ratnam production in 2020, Vaanam Kottattum, where he had shared screen space opposite his better half Radhika Sarathkumar. 

Ponniyin Selvan's cast includes Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha Krishnan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Jayaram, Sobhita Dhulipala, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Vikram Prabhu, Ashwin Kakumanu, Parthiban, Prabhu and Prakash Raj, to name a few. Popular writer Jeyamohan has penned the dialogues while AR Rahman has scored the music for the same. Cinematographed by Ravi Varman, the film is edited by A Sreekar Prasad. The film is expected to hit theares in April-May 2022.