Filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s upcoming movie Ponniyin Selvan: 1, which will hit the theatres in September, has landed in legal trouble. A lawyer has sued the director and actor Vikram over his character look of Aditya Karikalan in the film. In the notice, a lawyer named Selvan accused the actor and the director of distorting the historical facts about the Cholas.
Reportedly, the lawyer has claimed that the Chola King never wore a tilak on his forehead as seen in the character poster from the film, which features Vikram in Aditya Karikalan’s character. The poster was released last week.
Moreover, the complainant also pointed out that the ’tilak’ was visible in the poster, but not in the teaser, which was also unveiled last week. Meanwhile, he has requested a special screening of the movie before its release to ensure the makers don’t misrepresent history.
As of now, neither director nor the actor has reacted to the notice.
The upcoming period drama is based on the classic Tamil novel by the same name Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki. The film will open in cinemas in two parts and the first part is all set to hit theatres on September 30 this year in five languages – Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi.
Ponniyin Selvan is considered to be among the most expensive projects ever undertaken in Indian cinema. The film features a host of top stars like Jayam Ravi, Vikram, Karthi, Trisha, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Prabhu, Prakash Raj, Nassar, Parthiban, Vikram Prabhu, Aishwarya Lekshmi, and Jayaram among others.
Ravi Varman is the face behind the cinematography of the forthcoming film. Sreekar Prasad is the editor and A.R. Rahman is the music director. National Award-winning art director Thotta Tharani is handling production design.
