New Delhi: Director Mani Ratnam's magnum opus ‘Ponniyin Selvan II’ has collected over Rs 300 crore at the box office worldwide. The second part of the period drama starring Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karthi, Trisha, Sobhita Dhulipala and Prakash Raj, was released on April 28. 


Production banner Lyca Productions shared the box office update on Twitter with the tweet, "#PS2 continues conquering the box office worldwide with a 300 crore+ collection!"  






 


Based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's popular 1955 Tamil novels of the same name, the "Ponniyin Selvan" film series chronicles the story of the early days of Arulmozhivarman, played by Jayam Ravi, one of the most powerful kings in the south who went on to become the great Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I. 


The film review on ABP Live reads: “The film has put itself in a separate league where the drama takes centre stage as opposed to flashy action sequences, despite the internet drawing parallels to the epic 'Baahubali'. The only time we see swords clashing and a gory battlefield is during the final moments, but the political drama keeps you glued every step of the way. 'Ponniyin Selvan: Part 2' is one of the rare sequels that not only lives up to, but much exceeds, the expectations spawned by the first part.” 


Aishwarya, who plays Queen Nandini, the princess of Pazhuvoor, in the film spoke about working with Mani Ratnam during the promotion of the film. In her long career, Aishwarya has worked with filmmaker Mani Ratnam in many films including ‘Iruvar’, ‘Guru’ and others.  


Aishwarya said her answer to a Mani Ratnam movie will always be a "yes".  


"You can call it adoration, devotion, thankfulness or love, (shraddha, guru bhakti, kritagyata)... Label it whatever you want to, the point is it will always be a yes. But why wouldn't it be a yes. Any actor deeply aspires to work with him. When that name or message flashes (on the phone), you cannot imagine the excitement," she was quoted as saying by PTI. 


'Ponniyin Selvan 1' went on to make approximately Rs 490 crores worldwide, ranking third among Indian films for the year in terms of box office revenue. PS1 became the highest-grossing Tamil film of all time in Tamil Nadu after surpassing Kamal Haasan’s Vikram. 


‘Ponniyin Selvan II’ was released in theatres in Tamil along with dubbed versions in Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam.