Will ticket sales of Ponniyin Selvan-1 beat those of Kamal Haasan's Vikram?

Three days from now, Ponniyin Selvan-1, directed by Mani Ratnam, will be in theatres, following the release of Dhanush's Naane Varuven.

Ponniyin Selvan, according to trade analysts, outperformed Thalapathy Vijay's Beast in terms of pre-release sales in the US. The film is set to beat Vikram's records if things continue this way. Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, the Kamal Haasan-starrer, registered the biggest pre-release business in the actor's career with over Rs 200 crore in earnings.

The pre-release market has gotten off to a nice start in both India and the US. Courtesy: the advance ticket sales for the Tamil and Telugu versions of Ponniyin Selvan-1. By Sunday afternoon, many tickets had almost sold out, and the hearsay is that the film had already surpassed one crore in booking.

The first of a two-part historical epic Ponniyin Selvan, based on Kalki's book of the same name, is one of the most anticipated films of the year.

Released in five languages, including Hindi, Kannada, and Malayalam, Ponniyin Selvan stars Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha Krishnan, Sobhita Dhulipala and Aishwarya Lekshmi, among others. Later this week, the reservations for these language versions are scheduled to go on sale.

Tamils take great pride in Ponniyin Selvan; hence there has been much expectation for its release. Theatres started scheduling shows as early as 5 am, and based on the buzz, the film will have the greatest opening of any Mani Ratnam production.

Trade sources claim that the hype surrounding the Hindi version is not as strong and that Tamil Nadu will likely be the region where the movie does the majority of its business. Interestingly, Rs 1.37 crore of the ticket sales had come from the Tamil version alone, and around Rs 9 lakh from the Telugu-dubbed one.

Unverified reports claim that it made Rs 4.5 crore through booking, but final estimates are expected to be greater because more theatres will probably start taking reservations in the following days.

Produced by Madras Talkies, Ponniyin Selvan-1 marks Aishwarya Rai’s comeback to Tamil cinema after a decade. The Bollywood actor will be seen playing dual roles; Nandini and her mute mother Mandakini Devi. In Mumbai, the earliest Ponniyin Selvan-1 show starts at roughly 4.30 am. The city has always had a positive atmosphere surrounding Mani Ratnam's movies, but this time, it is even stronger because of the extensive promotions, and huge ensemble cast.

The Ponniyin Selvan franchise was shot on a budget of Rs 500 crore and is one of the ambitious projects of Lyca Productions. Part-2 of the epic novel is expected to hit the screens, eventually.