Mani Ratnam calls SS Rajamouli his inspiration: ‘Without Baahubali, I wouldn’t have made Ponniyin Selvan’

Mani Ratnam was asked, ‘What’s one thing that has made a huge impact on you in a positive way?’ To everyone’s surprise, Mani Ratnam said, “I think, Rajamouli.” The Telugu filmmaker was taken aback and pleasantly surprised.

Mani Ratnam added, “I will tell you why. You know… I have been wanting to make this film called Ponniyin Selvan for years, and I could not find a way, till Baahubali came. The one huge thing it did was… it came in two parts. That you can tell a story in two parts and keep the audience glued. It just opened my… you know… possibility of me making the film. If Baahubali hadn’t come in two parts, I wouldn’t have been able to make Ponniyin Selvan. So, thank you very much.”

In reply to the praise, Rajamouli said, “Sir, this is the biggest compliment I can ever get. The biggest.”

Written by Kalki Krishnamoorthy, Ponniyin Selvan is an exhaustive story that was written in five parts. Over the decades, many actors including MG Ramachandran and Kamal Haasan have tried to adapt the film for the silver screen but failed due to the length of the books and the cost. Mani Ratnam, who fell in love with the story as a young boy, was finally was able to compress the entire novel into a two-part film.

Along with RRR, Ponniyin Selvan 1 was among the biggest hits of South Indian cinema last year. While RRR went on to become an international phenomenon, PS1 had great domestic success by collecting more than Rs 5oo crore.

The second part of Ponniyin Selvan will be released on April 28, 2023.