Is Ponniyin Selvan the Tamil Game of Thrones? Mani Ratnam has a hilarious response

Filmmaker Mani Ratnam is looking forward to the release of his period action drama Ponniyin Selvan – I. Given the buzz around the film, it seems cine-goers too can’t wait for the film to hit the theaters. There are some who are even comparing it to the popular fantasy drama series Game of Thrones and calling it ‘Tamil Game of Thrones.’ But the filmmaker begs to differ.

While interacting with Film Companion in a new interview, Ratnam refused to accept that Ponniyin Selvan – I is the Tamil version of GOT. Instead, he had a hilarious response to the comparisons. He said, “I think Game of Thrones is the English version of Ponniyin Selvan – I.”

The movie is based on writer Kalki Krishnamurthy’s iconic five-volume novel Ponniyin Selvan. It stars Vikram, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Prabhu, R Sarathkumar, Vikram Prabhu, Prakash Raj, Rahman and R Parthiban. Though he is releasing the first part of the film on September 30, Ratnam has already completed the shoot of part two as well.

Given that the film is based on the five-part Ponniyin Selvan novel series, which spans about 2200 pages, Ratnam said that it can be easily be “done as five or ten different films.” But he joked, “The budget that we had, did not allow more than this. So two is enough.”