Mani Ratnam's Ponniyen Selvan bags six awards at this year's Asian Film Awards

Ponniyen Selven won six awards at the 16th Asian Film Awards held in Hong Kong. The moive was nominated in six categories and won.

The categories were Best Movie, Best Music Director, Best Production Design, Best Editor, Best Cinematographer, and Best Costume Designer.

The movie tied for third place along with the South Korean drama Return to Seoul for the most nominations. The top place was held by the South Korean movie Decision to Leave which had 10 followed by the Japanese movie Drive My Car which had 8 nominations.

Ponniyen Selvan was a huge critical and commercial success becoming the highest-grossing Tamil movie of 2022 and the fifth highest-grossing Tamil movie of all time with a total box office collection of 500 crores.

The franchise was long thought to be unadaptable for the big screen with countless stars and producers trying and failing over the years including MGR and Kamal Hassan.

The movies are based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1955 novel, Ponniyin Selvan, Which focuses on the Chola dynasty specifically Rajaraja Chola and his rise to power.

Veteran director Mani Ratnam has been trying for years to get the movie made and finally got the project in motion in 2019.

Official production for the movie started on December 11, 2019, in Thailand with a budget of 500 crores, and both part 1 and part 2 were shot back to back. Production wrapped on March 2022.

As for Ponniyen Selvam 2, the movie's trailer and music launch is rumored to be unveiled in a grand event held on April 5, just weeks before the movie's release.

Ahead of the release of the sequel the producers have released a new tribute video in honor of Trisha Krishna's performance as princess Kundavai.

The new promo features the actress's various looks from Ponniyen Selvan Part 1 and a few BTS moments from the sets of the upcoming sequel.

Ponniyin Selven boasts of an ensemble main cast that includes Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Trisha, Jayaram, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, and Prabhu.

Ponniyin Selvan 2 will hit theaters worldwide on April 28th, 2023.