Ponniyin Selvan 2 BTS: Here’s What Went Behind Mani Ratnam’s Magnum Opus

The makers of Mani Ratnam's blockbuster magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan 2 recently released a glimpse of the film’s making. The one-minute video shows various behind-the-scenes footage, giving a sneak peek into the lighting setups, the blocking and other on-set preparation done by the crew. Beginning with the scene of Aditha Karikalan's death, we see Karthi's character Vandhiyathevan carrying the lifeless body of Aditha as the cinematographer Ravi Varman captures the drama with golden yellow lights. The epic score by AR Rahman picks up as we get a glimpse of what went behind filming the incredible confrontation between Vikram's Aditha and Aishwarya Rai's Nandini.

Snippets of various highlights of the sequel, including Sundara Chozhan's meeting with Oomai Rani, the battle with the Pandyas and the climactic war sequence are shown. In a few scenes, we get to see Mani Ratnam acting or giving directions.

Ponniyin Selvan 2 is the second instalment of the epic adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthy's novel. The film features an ensemble cast of Vikram, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Jayaram, R Sarath Kumar, Vikram Prabhu, Prakash Raj, Sobhita Dhulipala and Aishwarya Lekshmi among others. Regular collaborators like AR Rahman on music, Ravi Varman on camera, Sreekar Prasad as the editor and Thota Tharani as the production designer were involved in the project. Produced by Subaskaran of Lyca Productions, the film opened to rave reviews on April 28.