Watch: Celebrating Ponniyin Selvan 1 release, fans pour milk on Karthi's cut-out

Celebrating Ponniyin Selvan 1 release, fans offered milk and put garlands around the actor Karthi's poster and performed the pooja and were seen bursting crackers.

Chennai (Tamil Nadu): Fans showed their excitement and celebrated the release of Mani Ratnam's magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan across the nation. In Tamil Nadu, fans gathered in huge numbers outside Rohini Silver Screens movie theatre in Chennai's Koyambedu. The celebration included the playing of drums and dancing in front of the cinema hall.

PS1 is a historical drama of a time when the Cholan Empire was at the height of its power. The film follows the power struggle between royal families as forces conspire to capture the Cholan throne. Ponniyin Selvan film used the names of real-life characters who existed at the time but the events are fictionalised to a larger extent.

The story is set in the 10th century during a tumultuous time in the Chola Empire when the power struggle between different branches of the ruling family caused violent rifts between the potential successors to the reigning emperor. The A.R Rahman musical is out in theatres, in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. Produced by Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions.

In Madurai, fans offered milk and put garlands around the actor Karthi's poster and performed the pooja and were seen bursting crackers. Speaking to a newswire, moviegoers in Tamil Nadu gave thumbs up to Ponniyin Selvan 1 and said "screenplay, VFX" will make Tamil film industry proud.

READ |Mani Ratnam tried thrice to make Ponniyin Selvan, reveals MGR was to be part of the epic

The cinemagoers also said that Ravi Varman should get National Award for "excellent" cinematography. Movie buffs also said PS1 will be a good cinematic experience if not compared with Baahubali.

In the film, Vikram will portray the role of Aditya Karikalan. Apart from Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will be seen in dual roles. She will play queen Nandini, the princess of Pazhuvoor, who is on a mission to seek vengeance, as well as Mandakini Devi in the historical drama. Trisha will be seen as Kundavai and Ravi will portray the character of Arunmozhi Varman.

Karthik Sivakumar and Jayam Ravi., Karthi will play Vanthiyathevan. Directed by Mani Ratnam, Ponniyin Selvan is a pan-India film. The film is a cinematic adaptation of author Kalki Krishnamurthy's Tamil novel of the same name which was released in the form of a series during the 1950s.

It marks the third collaboration of Aishwarya with south actor Vikram after their critically acclaimed film Raavan in 2010, and the fourth collaboration with director Mani Ratnam after Iruvar in 1997, Guru in 2007 and Raavan in 2010.