Ponniyin Selvan 2 promotional tour: Chiyaan Vikram, Karthi, Trisha and Jayam Ravi in Bengaluru

The Ponniyin Selvan promotional tour is in its final leg and the lead cast has headed to Bengaluru today. Chiyaan Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi and Trisha landed in the city earlier in the day and were seen obliging fans for selfies at the airport and the venue where this evening’s promotional event will play out. The Bengaluru pre-release event will be at 5 pm today. The cast is expected to be joined by local talent who helped with the Kannada version, like, for instance, lyricist Jayant Kaikini, who wrote all the Kannada songs of both parts of the film, among others. Following the official promotions, the stars are expected to head to a city hot-spot and let their hair down for a spot of fun and frolic before heading to the next destination of the tour.

The second edition of Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus – Ponniyin Selvan 2 – is opening in theatres on April 28. The first part had hit theatres on September 30 last year, along with Kantara. This time around, in Karnataka, the film faces competition from Hombale Films yet again, albeit with a comedy starring Jaggesh in the lead, called Raghavendra Stores. The film has been directed by Santhosh Ananddram, of Raajakumara and Yuvarathnaa fame, so chances are that it could give PS-2 a run for its money at the box office. In a city like Bengaluru, for instance, the film will also have competition from Akhil Akkineni’s Agent.

In industry circles, meanwhile, the buzz is that Ponniyin Selvan 2 has not created as much pre-release excitement as the original. The stars, though, are leaving no stone unturned to drum up excitement and have audiences queueing up at theatres. The fact that it is exam, IPL and, more importantly, election season in Karnataka, could be a dampener though.

Meanwhile, for those awaiting to see how the story unfolds in the second instalment, given that the original was more about character introductions. This time around, the story progression will begin from the word go.