Director Mani Ratnam arrived at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi to receive the National Award for Best Tamil Film on 8 October. Ahead of the awards ceremony, the filmmaker chatted about the win and how he tried to make Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1A. A few times before but ultimately failed. The director said that winning the National Award for the historical drama was special in many ways.

Explaining why it is special, Mani Ratnam said, “It is a very special film because it comes from a huge classic novel, which has been popular for over 50 years. It is probably the most loved Tamil novel. It’s been a dream for me to do it.” I had tried to make this project 3-4 times before, so I am happy that I got it and I am happy that I am getting a National Award for it.

When asked if it was difficult to make Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1, she said, “Any film is difficult. To do historical fiction and achieve the balance that Kalki has achieved in the book, you Let’s try to do it in a different medium. It’s very different from what I’ve done before, so it was very exciting.”

Here is the trailer of Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1:

Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 won four National Awards – Best Tamil Film, Best Music Director (BGM), Best Sound Design, Best Cinematography.

The historical drama is an adaptation of a popular Tamil literary novel of the same name written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. The film’s cast includes Chiyaan Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Shobhita Dhulipala, Jayaram and Aishwarya Lakshmi.