Mani Ratnam is on hectic pre-production work for his magnum opus 'Ponniyin Selvan' adapted from the historical novel of the same name written by Kalki. The film that has music by A.R. Rahman and lyrics by Vairamuthu has the dream cast of Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Jayaram, Parthiban, Sathyaraj, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Keerthy Suresh, Amala Paul and Amitabh Bachchan.

Latest reports emerging is that Mani Ratnam has finalized the forests of Thailand as the location for 'Ponniyin Selvan' where major portions will be shot in a single schedule of 100 days. It is further reported that all the big stars will have to camp in Thailand and due to that there is no way of call sheet problems arising. The truth, of course, is that all the stars are happy to put their weight behind the ace director's dream and will be more than willing to accommodate the required dates.