Director Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 graced the theatres on September 30 amid huge expectations. Some people compared Ponniyin Selvan to SS Rajamouli's Baahubali starring Prabhas and Rana Daggubati.

At the event, Mani Ratnam also answered a fan who asked whether SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali and Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus were similar. Mani Ratnam said that after completing Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, he thought of making Kalki Krishnamurthy’s Ponniyin Selvan.

Ratnam refused to accept any similarity with Baahubali. Later the fan said, if not Baahubali then Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmavat. Mani Ratnam again refused and said, “It would be like what Kalki had written in her novel. That is what we have tried as far as possible from the first day till today."

On comparing PS I with Bahubali he said "Kalki had written the life story of Rajaraja Cholan. Baahubali is a fantasy film. It also has hero elements in it. There is a lot of difference between that and PonniyinSelvan film. There is no such superhero in PS I."

It was director Mani Ratnam's dream for 40 years to adapt novelist Kalki Krishnamurthy's Ponniyin Selvan into a film. After multiple failed attempts, he realised his dream on September 30 as the first part hit the theatres.