Ponniyin Selvan a popular historical fiction written by Kalki Krishnamurthy is considered to be one of the greatest novels ever written in Tamil literature. It was first published as a series in the Kalki, a Tamil language magazine, during the 1950s and was later integrated into a novel. The craze for the series which was published weekly was such that it elevated the magazine circulation to reach a staggering figure of 71,366 copies .

Ever since its popularity, several Tamil film makers tried to adapt the novel in film, however most of their attempts were dropped for various reasons. It took 60+ years to finally get an onscreen adaptation and Mani Ratnam's PS-I which is gearing up for a teaser release later today, is scheduled to hit cinema halls on September 30, 2022.

Before we get to see the teaser video, here is a look back at some of the known attempts to bring Ponniyin Selvan onscreen:

The very first attempt - A rigorous MGR in the 50s

M.G.Ramachandran, the top hero of Tamil film industry then, had procured the rights to make the novel into a film in the 1950s. It is said that he had purchased the rights for Rs.10,000. He even announced that he would produce, star and direct the film. The film crew was changed many times, his production kept changing from his initial plans and even after renewing the film rights for four years, MGR could not complete the film.

Director Bharathiraja had once shared that in his last attempt turning Ponniyin Selvan into a movie, MGR had approached Bharathiraja to direct the film and he wanted Kamal Haasan and Sridevi to star in it. However MGR had to leave for US the next week for his medical condition, else he would have made it as a film.

Kamal Haasan, Maniratnam duo - Mid 90's post the success of Nayagan

Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam had shared the same passion in adapting the novel Ponniyin Selvan into a film. Kamal Haasan had bought the film rights however, due to financial reasons the duo could not go ahead with the project. 

Maniratnam, Vijay, Mahesh Babu: Late  2000's

Maniratnam restarted his effort to make Ponniyin Selvan, and he had planned to cast actors Vijay and Mahesh Babu in his movie. The film was planned at a budget of Rs. 100 Cr. and Maniratnam himself decided to produce it too.  The team even conducted photoshoots with Vijay and Mahesh Babu but the project was dropped before the scheduled shooting date.

One of the major reasons was said to be an unexpected increase in production cost from what they planned initially; As the team could not secure pwrmissions to shoot at temples, which is where of filming had been planned majority of filming was to take place, a the team's desire.

Other Known Attempts

Makkal TV had tried to make a show based on Ponniyin Selvan but shelved the idea while still in early stage. Soundarya Rajinikanth attempted to make a web series in mid-2015 but that too didn't take off. In 2019, she restarted work stating it will be streamed on MX Player.