Mani Ratnam diagnosed with COVID-19; admitted to a Chennai hospital

Chennai (Tamil Nadu): As the promotions of the magnum opus, Ponniyin Selvan-1 have begun in full swing, the director and brain behind the film, Mani Ratnam has been admitted to the hospital after testing positive for COVID-19. The post-production work on the film had just commenced when the actor was diagnosed with the virus. According to reports, the filmmaker is currently stable and shows no Covid symptoms.

The news of Ratnam’s illness spread on the internet and fans and friends all over wished him health and speedy recovery. The filmmaker was last seen at the grand teaser launch of his mega-starrer film with Amitabh Bachchan launching its Hindi version, Suriya launching the Tamil version and Mahesh Babu unveiling the Telugu version. The film is slated to release on September 30, 2022.

Ponniyin Selvan-1 or PS-1 is the first part of the two-film series that has an ensemble cast of Chiyaan Vikram, Karthi, Trisha, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Prakaash Raj and many others. It follows the story of Rajaraja Chola 1 and the power struggle during the Chola dynasty.

Adapted from the book by Kalki Krishnamurthy with the same name, PS-1 is the dream project of Mani Ratnam who has been working on it since the 1990s.

The film recently ran into legal trouble after a lawyer filed a case against the makers on the grounds that they could misrepresent the Cholas in the film. The complainant further urged that the court should cross-check the facts in the film before the social screening of the film.