Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan-1 is still unbeatable; inches closer to Rs 400 crore at the box office

Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan-1 continues to enthral audiences in cinema halls, as the film closed yet another fantastic week at the box office. The multi-starrer is inching closer to Rs 400 crore, globally.

Having released in theatres worldwide on September 30 in five languages – Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, Ponniyin Selvan-1, had done a business of Rs 318 crore gross worldwide in six days, earning Rs 130 crore in Tamil Nadu alone.

According to trade analysts, Ponniyin Selvan-1, is the sixth Tamil film to enter the Rs 300 crore club, following the biggies: 2.0, Enthiran, Kabali, Bigil and Vikram.

The Mani Ratnam film is now only behind Rajinikanth's 2.0 and Kamal Haasan's Vikram, after overtaking Kabali and Enthiran box office collections, in the past couple of days.

Ponniyin Selvan-1 tells the story of the early life of Arulmozhivarman (Ponniyin Selvan), who later became the Chola emperor Rajaraja I (947–1014).

PS-1, made on a huge budget of Rs 150 crore, registered the best Tamil opening of 2022 with a gross opening worldwide collection of Rs 80 crore.

As per Lyca Productions, the film’s co-producers, Ponniyin Selvan-1 has become the “fastest Rs 100 crore grosser in Tamil Nadu” and continues to “break records”.

Featuring Jayam Ravi, Vikram, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai, Trisha, Sobhita Dhulipala and Aishwarya Lekshmi among others, Ponniyin Selvan-1 marked Aishwarya’s comeback to Tamil cinema after a decade. The Bollywood actor plays dual roles – Nandini and her mute mother, Mandakini Devi.

Based on a five-part series of the novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy, the second part of Ponniyin Selvan will be released in cinemas next year.

Filmmaker Mani Ratnam had recently said in a media interaction that he was glad he could make the film into two parts, and release part 1 first, as audiences are used to watching in multiple parts; courtesy: SS Rajamouli's Baahubali and the KGF franchise.

The question of whether or not Raja Raja Chola was a Hindu has come back into the spotlight with PS-1. Comments made by Tamil director Vetrimaaran in Tamil Nadu triggered a debate that is still going strong.

S Jayakumar, a researcher on the cultural heritage of south India and a specialist, who filmmaker Ratnam consulted for the landmark film, told Hindustan Times, though the word “Hindu” is not found in the records of the Cholas, Raja Raja was a Saivite and a Hindu King.

Added Jayakumar, “Several centuries ago, Hinduism did not exist as we know it today. Saivites are people who worship Lord Siva, while Vaishnavites are those who worship Lord Vishnu. Even though Raja Raja was a devout Saivite, he also erected Vishnu temples in addition to Siva temples. Along with Murugan and Ganesha, they worshipped Durga, too.”

Then, he observed, the people of India were referred to as Hindus by foreign travellers in their diaries. “Beyond the Sindhu River, everyone is a Hindu. Hinduism has been a concept for a very long time.”

The controversy started when Vetrimaaran said during his speech that Hindutva forces were attempting to hijack traditional Tamil identities by, for example, portraying Raja Raja Chola and saint Thiruvalluvar as Hindu.

“It is important to treat art in the right form. We will lose our identities if we don’t,” Vetrimaran had said. His comments came a day after part 1 of Ponniyin Selvan, was released worldwide.

Vetrimaaran's point of view was shared by politicians S Seeman, Thol Thirumavalan, and actor-politician Kamal Haasan, who argued that the Hindu faith didn't exist at the time. However, a section of BJP and right-wing leaders had opposing thoughts.

Ninety-two-year-old award-winning author and playwright, Indira Parthasarathy, took to Twitter to share his opinion. “To call Raja Raja a Saiva ruler is as absurd as calling him a Hindu ruler. All kings build monuments, mosques and temples only to show off their pride!”

He further noted that MP D Ravikumar raises a legitimate concern regarding whether the Brihadishvara Temple, often known as the large temple, was constructed by destroying a Buddhist shrine, citing historian Suresh Pillai.

“Raja Raja Cholan was more cosmopolitan in outlook and secular too. He had raised temples for Lord Shiva, Ganesh and Vishnu during his reign and liberally granted funds to those who sought for the construction of Jain or Buddhist temples,” P Venkatesan, former director of Epigraphy, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), told PTI.

During his reign, Raja Raja launched a project of a land survey, where he reorganised his empire into units known as valanadus, as per Economic Times.