Mani Ratnam Unpacks Hit Historical Epic ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ at International Film Festival of India Masterclass

variety.com:

Naman Ramachandran During an extensive masterclass at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, veteran Indian filmmaker Mani Ratnam engaged in conversation with actor-director Gautham Vasudev Menon about adapting literature to screen, his approach to period filmmaking, and his creative process.

Discussing his recent two-part historical epic “Ponniyin Selvan,” based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s 1950s Tamil novel, Ratnam emphasized authenticity in period storytelling. “We wanted to make it look like it really happened, that it’s not just a set or something shot in the studio.

There should be sunlight, dirt, sweat – you should feel that you are there at that point in time,” he said. The filmmaker revealed the practical challenges of shooting a period piece set in the Chola era. “If you go to Tanjore today, you’re not going to get any forts.

There’s no palace, nothing left. So we shot in a palace in the North [of India] and digitally converted the architecture to make it more South Indian,” Ratnam explained.