On the heels of releasing the first looks of Vikram as Aditya Karikalan and Karthi as Vanthiyathevan from director Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus, Ponniyin Selvan, the makers of the much-awaited epic film on Wednesday released the first look of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Queen Nandini in the film.
Lyca Productions, which is producing the film along with Mani Ratnam’s Madras Talkies, tweeted the first look picture of Aishwaraya Rai in the film on their official Twitter.
Aishwarya will play a double role in the movie; as Queen Nandini, as well as Nandini’s mute and deaf mother Mandakini Devi.
The film’s first part, which is releasing on September 30 this year, will release in five languages — Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi.
The film is based on the classic Tamil novel Ponniyin Selvan by eminent writer Kalki Krishnamurthy, on the life of the Chola king Raja Raja Chola I. The film, called by Mani Ratnam as his dream project, will be among the most expensive projects ever undertaken in the country with a reported budget of ₹500 crores. It stars an ensemble cast of popular actors including Vikram, Karthi, Trisha, Jayam Ravi, Vikram Prabhu and Prakash Raj.
The film has the best business handling for each of its departments. AR Rahman is scoring the music for this epic historical, with cinematography by Ravi Varman. National Award-winning art director Thotta Tharani is in charge of production design while Mani Ratnam’s trusted editor Sreekar Prasad is the editor.