Director Vishnuvardhan, known for his contemporary, urban themes, will be taking a detour with his next film, for which he has been working with the famous Tamil novelist Balakumaran.
It’s been a great pleasure working on the script with Writter Balakumaran. Been busy travelling with him centuries back. Will update u all
— vishnu vardhan (@vishnu_dir) October 23, 2015
Balakumaran’s historical novel Udayar, is a sequel to Kalki Krishnamurthy’s famous 2400-page epic Ponniyin Selvan. A fictional account leading up to the rule of Rajaraja Chola I, Ponniyin Selvan centered on a number of historical characters and events, including the building of the Tanjore temple. While Ponniyin Selvan has been successfully adapted for the stage, film adaptations have fallen through – including an attempt in 1958 by MGR, and one in 2012 by Mani Ratnam. Whether Vishnuvardhan’s film will draw on Balakumaran’s Udayar, or create an entirely new plot, hasn’t yet been announced. Vishnuvardhan’s last film Yatchan was adapted from a story-series by writers SuBha.
Balakumaran has previously been associated with several successful films, including Nayakan, Guna, Basha, Jeans, and Pudhupettai, as a dialogue writer.