Karthi shares nuggets of Tamil heritage at Ponniyin Selvan teaser launch; video goes viral

The teaser launch of Mani Ratnam's most ambitious project Ponniyin Selvan: I was held recently for which the entire star cast for the film was present. The film is an adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthy's iconic novel, Ponniyin Selvan and is a period film revolving around the Cholas, and the early days of Arulmozhivarman, who later went on to become the great emperor Rajaraja Chola I. The novel is considered one of the greatest in Tamil literature. The ensemble star cast for the film includes Vikram (Aditya Karikalan), Karthi (Vanthiyathevan), Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Nandini), Trisha (Kundavai) and Jayam Ravi (Raja Raja Cholan).

During the occasion of the teaser launch, actor Karthi, who plays Vallavaraiyan Vanthiyathevan, adventurous and sarcastic warrior prince of Vaanar clan, spoke proudly about the Tamil heritage. "We all keep proudly saying that we of Tamil descent. But when someone asks what's so special about being a Tamilian, most of us do not have any answer. Most of us do not know how was our country was, how was our kings were and how was their administration."

He went to talk about the contribution of Cholas to Tamil Nadu. "Take the example of Cholas, the Kallanai that they built over 2,000 years ago, exists even today. The water supply for Chennai comes from Veeranarayanapuram lake or the Veeranam lake, which was built by them. The historical Tanjore Periyakoil (Brihadeeswarar temple) was built without even a foundation. When those from the west sailed on boats alongside the banks, our ilk discovered that there was current inside the water and crossed the sea." The video of the nuggets of information about the Tamil heritage is doing the rounds on the internet.

Ponniyin Selvan is all set to release worldwide in theatres on September 30 in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi.