The Tamil period action drama, Ponniyan Selvan takes its listeners on a journey through the early days of Chola Prince Arulmozhivarman and his power struggle towards becoming one of the greatest Chola emperors to have walked this earth in the 10th-century
India, October 10, 2022: Audible, an Amazon company and a leading global provider of spoken-word entertainment, has made available all six parts of the legendary epic Ponniyin Selvan (பொன்னியின் செல்வன் [Ponniyin Selvan]) written by the legendary Kalki Krishnamurthy, produced by Pustaka Digital and narrated by revered writer, actor and director of Tamil classics, Bombay Kannan.
Ponniyin Selvan is a historical saga that tells the story of Arulmozhivarman, who later became the great Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I. Created through multi-voice with an original score with superior programming, detailed sound production and technological innovation, the audiobook will allow listeners to enjoy an immersive audio experience of this extravagant tale in Tamil.
Considered by many to be the greatest novel ever written in Tamil literature, it was first published as a series in the Kalki, a Tamil language magazine, during the 1950s and owing to its widespread fandom, was later integrated into a novel. Even today, the novel has a cult following and fan base among people of all generations. The book continues to be admired and garner critical acclaim for its tightly woven plot, vivid narration, witty dialogue, and the way in which the power struggle and intrigues of the Chola empire were depicted.
The film adaptation of the masterpiece which has been helmed by the incredible Mani Ratnam starring actors Aishwarya Rai, Vikram, Trisha Krishnan and Jayam Ravi is also enjoying great success; the sprawling, spectacularly mounted film has been reviewed as an ambitious, near-flawless adaptation of this much-loved literary work. Popular Indian author, Divya Prakash Dubey has been credited for the Hindi dialogues in the film.
Speaking about the popularity of Ponniyin Selvan, Shailesh Sawlani, VP and Country GM, Audible India, said, “Ponniyin Selvan is an incredible Tamil period action drama – a true reflection of the incredible of diverse, regional storytelling that took, and continues to take place in different parts of the country. At Audible, we are honoured to be home to its audiobook – I believe it has done this historical epic justice, and I hope fans of the story think so too.”
“I feel immensely proud to be able to narrate one of the greatest works of Tamil literature to have ever been written. I hope listeners of Ponniyin Selvan on Audible feel the same rush of emotions while listening to the stories of the persistent Chola King – Rajaraja Chola, as I did while narrating it. Audio format is quite exhilarating, and with more local language content being made available as audiobooks and shows, listeners get the flexibility to enjoy it in the language of their choice and motivate them to listen more!” says, Bombay Kannan, Actor, Writer, Director.
