By BANIBRATA DATTA
Abhishek Bachchan revealed that filmmaker Mani Ratnam offered him the film Yuva, at a pivotal moment in his acting career, which also served as a turning point.
Throughout his career spanning more than 21 years in Bollywood, Abhishek Bachchan has experienced his fair share of setbacks, hardships and failures, along with hits and success. The actor, who is enjoying his sojourn on OTT, had earlier recalled being thrown out and replaced in movies, which made him question his decision of becoming an actor.
On the talk show Oye It’s Friday, hosted by Farhan Akhtar, Abhishek had revealed, “When Mani Ratnam offered me Yuva, my films were not working at the box-office. As an actor I was literally finished, I had no work. I was getting thrown out of films. After two days of shooting, I was told that the film was stalled and then I would get to know that they were shooting with someone else. We start losing confidence because on a weekly basis I was told ‘aapko acting nahi aati’ (You don’t know acting).”
The actor was so distressed that he consulted his father, actor Amitabh Bachchan about the same. He said, “One night I was thinking about what went wrong, ‘maine kya galat kiya hai’. I went to dad (Amitabh Bachchan) and told him, ‘Maine galti kardiya, mujhe actor nai banna chaiye tha (I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have been an actor)’.”
However, Amitabh tried to restore his confidence and said, “Don’t ever talk like this. I have not brought you up to accept defeat. Keep at it you are improving, I will tell you if you are not doing good”
Abhishek then recalled getting a call from Mani Ratnam at this point, who wanted to meet him to discuss a film. The actor, who thought that the call was for some post-production meet, said that he was shocked when Mani offered him Yuva. He said that Mani directed him at a time when he was down and also said that he is always indebted to him, he added, “By the grace of god, for the first time I got a good review.”
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Mani Ratnam shares how he fell in love with Ponniyin Selvan in this new BTS video
Madras Talkies unveiled a new video of Mani Ratnam discussing his thoughts from the time when he read Ponniyin Selvan for the first time.
“Here in Lloyds Road, there is this Eshwari Lending Library. That’s where I picked up Ponniyin Selvan’s all five parts with the illustrations of Maniam. I read it all in one stretch. I was reading all through it with a smile. Those landscapes… horses… characters… Pazhuvettaraya with two mustaches. Those images never left my mind,” says Mani Ratnam with an infectious smile in the new behind-the-scenes video of Ponniyin Selvan 1.
Unveiled by Madras Talkies, the brief clip has the filmmaker talking about the challenges of turning such a lengthy novel into a two-part film. He says, “This story was written in five parts… to make it in two films, we had to make some sacrifices. But things that were taken out shouldn’t be noticeable and the flow should be organic and so we had to build some bridges at a few places.”
Ponniyin Selvan 1 has already earned more than Rs 420 crore at the box office, and trade analysts are predicting that the film will soon touch the Rs 450 crore mark at the box office. It has become the biggest box office grosser in Tamil now. The film has also satiated the critics as most of the reviews have been in favour of the film.
Starring Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai, and Trisha in lead roles, the film tells the fictitious story of the Chola kingdom and how Arulmozhi Varman aka Raja Raja Cholan became the king of one of the greatest empires in India. AR Rahman composed the music for the film, while Sreekar Prasad has taken care of the cuts.
The second part of the film is expected to be released in seven months in 2023.
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Ponniyin Selvan I: 5 box office records broken by this Mani Ratnam’s epic as it heads to Rs 450 cr mark
Since its release on September 30, Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan I has broken several worldwide box office records, which were previously held my the movies starring Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.
Filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s latest blockbuster Ponniyin Selvan I has contributed massively in aiding the recovery of the box office. It has been a fantastic year for Tamil cinema. All the pent-up demands of the lockdown drove the box office collections across the state, giving a much-needed respite to stakeholders.
Ponniyin Selvan I was a huge gamble of Mani Ratnam. It was not just the most ambitious film of the filmmaker but also the most expensive film in his career, spanning over four decades. Despite the high cost involved in making this, Ratnam retained his sober style of narration and didn’t compromise his vision to make it look appealing to a wider audience. Result: Tamil audiences across the country and around the world appreciated his effort and intention by showing up in huge numbers at the cinemas. Even as there were complaints about the film’s ‘slow pace’, it didn’t stop the movie from breaking the box office records of previous blockbusters and creating new ones.
One cannot deny the effect of PS:1’s humongous success on the way future big-budget blockbusters will be made. This film has shown that a filmmaker can boldly spend on his vision without compromising his artistic integrity and still be victorious.
The producers of PS:1 have not been very forthcoming about the cost they incurred making PS:1. Mani Ratnam and his team of master filmmakers shot both parts of the film in a single stretch spanning 150 days. And to mount such a massive production in such a short time is a record in itself. However, it helped the producers to save a lot of money. Some media reports estimate that the cost of making this film would have been somewhere between Rs 400 crore and Rs 500 crore. And on Thursday, Lyca Production declared that the film’s collection touched Rs 400 crore from its worldwide ticket sales. The film is also showing no signs of slowing down at the box office thanks to the festive season.
Here are the few box office records that were broken by PS: 1.
Biggest opening in 20 years for Mani Ratnam
PS:1 gave the biggest-ever opening in the career of Mani Ratnam. The filmmaker never saw such an opening since he refined his storytelling style and tilted towards a nuanced portrayal of life as opposed to churning out crowd-pleasers. The film debuted at the Tamil Nadu box office by bringing in over Rs 22 crore in the collection. Its worldwide gross on day one was about Rs 80 crore.
All-time record in Tamil Nadu!
PS:1 became the fastest film to breach the Rs 100 mark at the box office in Tamil Nadu. The film managed to show the actual strength of the box office market of Tamil Nadu after a long time. According to trade analyst Ramesh Bala, the film’s collection so far is more than Rs 180 crore, beating the records, which were previously held by the likes of Vikram, Baahubali 2, 2.0.
No 1 Tamil film overseas
PS:1 has emerged as the number 1 Tamil film not just in its home state but also in several international markets. It’s the first Tamil film to overtake the collections of Rajinikanth movies in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and other European countries.
Outearned Rajinikanth movies in the US
The US is traditionally the stronghold of the Telugu film industry. Rarely a Tamil film has made a dent like Baahubali 2 in the US, except for a few Rajinikanth movies. PS: 1 has sold tickets worth of over $6 million in the US, overtaking the lifetime collections of Rajinikanth’s Kabali($4.61 million) and 2.0 ($5.2 million). It enjoys the distinction of being the first non-Rajinikanth film to breach the $4 million mark at the US box office.
Vikram’s lifetime collection
Even in its third week, PS:1 has retained a substantial amount of screens in Tamil Nadu. The demand for this film is such that many theatres reportedly want to continue the screening of this film even as there are two big films, Prince and Sardar, getting ready to open in cinemas this Deepavali. It’s said that PS:1 is running on about 500 screens in Tamil Nadu in its third week. At this pace, PS: 1 will overtake the lifetime worldwide collection of Kamal Haasan’s latest blockbuster Vikram, which is pegged at Rs 430 crore, in no time.
