Earlier this week, there were reports that Mani Ratnam, currently on his long-time dream project Ponniyin Selvan, was hospitalised at the Apollo Hospitals in Chennai. Even as rumours of a heart attack began circulating online, reliable sources had clarified that the director was fine and that he had gone to the hospital for a routine check-up. People had even begun terming Ponniyin Selvan a jinxed project, counting this 'hospitalisation' as yet another omen connected to the celebrated novel.
Meanwhile, Suhasini Mani Ratnam tweeted on Wednesday to let people know that Mani Ratnam had a game of golf with Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev. The tweet quickly amassed several replies seeking a picture of the two together and Suhasini duly obliged within hours - posting two pictures of Mani Ratnam and Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev together in golf-appropriate garb. This led to an outpouring of joy from fans who were relieved to find their favourite director looking none the worse for the 'recent bout of illness'. The veteran director does not look like he's seen a bad day since the last time we saw him in public; we may as well sit back and see how Ponniyin Selvan comes along.
Written by Kalki Krishnamoorthy as a series in his magazine, Ponniyin Selvan gained a cult-like fanbase four years before English writer JRR Tolkien achieved similar popularity with the fantasy novel series, Lord of the Rings. It is now considered the ultimate Tamil best seller of this century. Mani Ratnam had declared Ponniyin Selvan his dream project years ago and the news of the project finally materialising has the Tamil audience excited. Mani Ratnam hail and hearty.
