Gopalaratnam Subramaniam, known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. He is one of India's most acclaimed and commercially successful filmmakers. Ratnam has won seven National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, six Filmfare Awards South, and numerous awards at various film festivals across the world. In 2002, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, acknowledging his contributions to film.
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films. She gained prominence after winning the 1999 Miss Chennai pageant, which marked her entry into Cinema. Often referred to as the "Queen of South India", Trisha has received numerous accolades, including five Filmfare Award South, one Tamil Nadu State Film Award, one Nandi Award and eight SIIMA Awards.
Mohan Ravi, better known by his stage name Jayam Ravi, is an Indian actor who works in the Tamil cinema. The son of veteran film editor A. Mohan, Ravi made his lead acting debut in Jayam. He has won one Tamil Nadu State Film Award and one Filmfare Award South and three SIIMA Awards respectively.
Nissankara Savitri was an Indian actress and filmmaker who predominantly worked in Telugu and Tamil films. Widely regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she was popularly known by the epithets Mahanati in Telugu and Nadigaiyar Thilagam in Tamil. Savitri was among the highest-paid and most sought-after actresses in South Indian cinema during the 1950s and 1960s.
Radhakrishnan Parthiban is an Indian actor and film director who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 16 films, produced 14 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj in 1984 and the duo worked in over 20 films from 1984 to 1991. Parthiban is known for having directed critically acclaimed films such as Pudhiya Paadhai (1989) and House Full (1999) won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. He also won National Film Award – Special Jury Award in Otha Seruppu Size 7 (2019).
Ravi Krishna is a former Indian actor who worked in the Tamil and Telugu films. Son of producer A. M. Rathnam, he made his acting debut in Selvaraghavan's critically acclaimed 7G Rainbow Colony. He has won Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – South for his performance in that movie.
S. Ravi Varman is an Indian cinematographer, filmmaker, producer and writer. He predominantly works in Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi film industries. Varman began his career in Malayalam cinema. He directed a romantic film in Tamil titled Moscowin Kavery (2010). He is an honorary member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AM-pass). He was awarded the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for his work in Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022).
Ajmal Ameer is an Indian actor known for his works in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu language films. He has won two Filmfare Awards South for his role Anjathe (2008) and Ko (2011).
Elango Kumaravel is an Indian actor and writer. He is also a co-founder of the Chennai based theatre group "Magic Lantern". He is an alumnus of Pondicherry University's Sankaradas Swamigal School of Performing Arts and the Chennai-based theatre workshop koothuppattarai. He has also worked as a casting assistant for the 2007 film Loins of Punjab Presents and wrote the script for the 2008 film Kattradhu Kalavu. He was involved in the production of "Ey Aa O!" a musical fusion work of collaboration between Indian folk and classical musicians.
Subaskaran Allirajah is a British-Sri Lankan Tamil entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of Lycamobile, a telecommunications company and also its entertainment subsidiary called Lyca Productions, based in Chennai, India, and began the production with its first tamil film Kaththi (2014). It produced the science fiction thriller 2.0 (2018), which was India's most expensive film and the 5th most expensive non-English-language film at the time of its release. Lyca Productions has also produced Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023) which are both Tamil cinema releases.
Anand Krishnamoorthi is a National Award winning Indian film sound designer, sound editor and production sound mixer.
Sobhita Dhulipala is an Indian actress. She won the Femina Miss India Earth 2013 title at Femina Miss India 2013 pageant and represented India at Miss Earth 2013. Dhulipala made her acting debut in Anurag Kashyap's Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016) and subsequently played the lead role in the Amazon Prime Video drama series Made in Heaven (2019–2023).
Ashok Selvan is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He made his breakthrough playing one of the lead roles in Soodhu Kavvum (2013), before gaining critical acclaim for his performances in C. V. Kumar's productions Pizza II: Villa (2013) and Thegidi (2014).
Vinodhini Vaidyanathan is an Indian actress and writer who has mainly worked in Tamil cinema and theatre. She made her debut in A. R. Murugadoss's Engaeyum Eppothum portraying Ananya's sister. She is best known for her performances in OK Kanmani (2015), Appa (2016), Aandavan Kattalai (2016), Ratsasan (2018), Comali (2019), Game Over (2019), Ponmagal Vandhal (2020) and Soorarai Pottru (2020), Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023).
Lyca Productions is an Indian entertainment company, which was established by Subaskaran Allirajah in 2014. A subgroup of Lycamobile, the production studio has been involved in the production and distribution of Tamil films, Hindi films, Telugu films and Malayalam films made in India. It has produced some of Tamil cinema's biggest budget films, such as 2.0 (2018), Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023).
Aishwarya Lekshmi is an Indian actress and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has received one Filmfare Award South, one Kerala Film Critics Association Award and three SIIMA Awards.
Ponniyin Selvan: I is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language epic action drama film directed by Mani Ratnam, who co-wrote it with Elango Kumaravel and B. Jeyamohan. Produced by Ratnam and Subaskaran Allirajah under Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions, it is the first of two cinematic parts based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1955 novel, Ponniyin Selvan. The film stars an ensemble cast including Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha, Jayaram, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Prakash Raj, Prabhu, R. Sarathkumar, R. Parthiban, Rahman, Lal and Vikram Prabhu. The music was composed by A. R. Rahman, with cinematography by Ravi Varman, editing by A. Sreekar Prasad, and production design by Thota Tharani. Ponniyin Selvan: I dramatises the early life of Chola prince Arunmozhi Varman, who would become the renowned emperor Rajaraja I (947–1014). In the film, Vandiyathevan sets out to cross the Chola land to deliver a message from the crown prince Aditha Karikalan. Meanwhile, Kundavai attempts to establish political peace as vassals and petty chieftains plot against the throne.
Ponniyin Selvan: I and Ponniyin Selvan: II are Indian Tamil-language epic historical action drama films directed by Mani Ratnam, who co-wrote them with Elango Kumaravel and B. Jeyamohan. Produced by Ratnam and Subaskaran Allirajah under Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions, they are the cinematic adaptations of Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1955 novel, Ponniyin Selvan.
Ponniyin Selvan: II is the soundtrack album for 2023 Indian Tamil-language epic period drama film of the same name directed by Mani Ratnam which features an ensemble cast of Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha, Aishwarya Lekshmi. The film’s soundtrack and score were composed by Ratnam's norm composer A. R. Rahman.
