Veteran Director Mani Ratnam who made Ponniyin Selvan in two parts based on Kalki Subramaniam’s novel says that Indian cinema can benefit from bringing great works of literature to the screen.

Talking at IFFI Goa Ratnam said, “Tamil is very rich in literature. Ideally, you'd like to write something that is far above what you do. It makes your job as a director easy. The closer the gap between literature and cinema, the better the cinema will be.”

The film Ponniyin Selvan has been inspired by the book Ponniyin Selvan regarded as one of the greatest novels of Tamil Literature published under the Kalki series. The novel has garnered critical acclaim for its tightly woven plot, vivid narration, witty dialogue, and portrayal of the intrigues and power struggle of the Chola empire in the 10th century.

The historical period drama had an ensemble cast including Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi (as the title character), Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha, Jayaram, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Prakash Raj, Prabhu, R. Sarathkumar, R. Parthiban, Rahman, Lal and Vikram Prabhu.