Ponniyin Selvan unfolded its magnificence on screens worldwide on 30th September 2022. This is an epic historical fiction, written by Kalki Krishnamoorthi in the 1950s. Set in the 10th century this deals with the period just before the dawn of a golden era.
Creative Genius Mani Ratnam is known to do things very differently – this goes for every aspect of the film making right from choosing the characters, the scenes, and for a film like this, jewels, which also tells a story by itself.
Speaking about his collaboration with the Jewellery Designer for PS Mani Ratnam says “Kishandas is one of the best things that happened during the making of PS. Our aim was to present the film as realistically as possible. We mostly shot in real locations with minimal sets. We did not want the film to be a fantasy costume drama. Like Locations and costumes, jewellery becomes a very important part of this effort of ours to make it look authentic and not false.”
PS 1 ( Ponniyin Selvan) Jewels adorned by Aishwarya and Trisha are stunning
When you watch the stills of Ponniyin Selvan (PS1), you find that each of the characters had to wear heavy jewellery, so when you locked your cast, did you also have this thing in mind, yes, the cast must be able to carry them as elegantly as a real person in the era.
“This film needed extensive pre-production. We had several trials for the look of each of the characters. We did photo shoots with costumes and jewellery. The artists were well prepared by the time they came to the shoot.” Mani Ratnam adds, Kishandas’ work was exquisite. They put in as much effort into the film as we did. A lot of pieces were designed just for this film. Every detail was taken care of.
For a film that demands such a variety of jewellery, has the jewellery designer succeeded in bringing your imagination to reality?
Mani Ratnam says they incorporated a lot of motifs and designs of the Chola period. They were aware of the nature of each character and designed the jewellery keeping that in mind. They were a big support to us.
Kishandas were the first and the only ones. From the very first meeting, we knew that they cared about the story, the characters, and the period. And they seemed very happy to be a part of the film. So, it was a win-win.
To enhance the character’s beauty, traditional jewellery such as nose pins, vankis, arm bands, vaddanams, hair pieces, and neck pieces with traditional motifs were created. The ornaments inspired by temple jewellery of the era adorned by the Queen and Princesses were Thussis, Long and Medium Necklaces, Maang tikas, Maatha pattis, Jhumkas, rings and bangles made in gold, predominantly set in burmese rubies, some emeralds and uncut diamonds.
Waist belts, hip chains, armlets, and the typical vankis worn by today’s brides, were also made in various styles to complement the costumes, silhouettes, and hair accessories based on the elaborate hairstyles, buns, and hairdos specified for each of the character’s varying hairstyles were among those created. Each piece was created to blend well with the costume, and the hair styling. The motifs used were mostly flowers, birds, lotus, peacock, parrots, gods, goddesses and filigree work on the jewellery which is relevant to the Chola era.
Together with Kishandas & Co, Costume designer Eka Lakhani conceptualised all the characteristic looks, for the leads and the entire supporting cast which perfectly blends into the character’s palettes as conceptualised by legendary filmmaker Mani Ratnam.
Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions #PS1 (Ponniyin Selvan) is releasing in theatres on 30th September in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada!
In picture (L-R) Pratiksha Prashant, Creative Director, CEO, Kishandas & Co, PS Director Mani Ratnam, Eka Lakhani Costume Designer PS