Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan: I is almost ready for release in theatres. The movie is set to release on the big screen on 30 September, 2022. The advance booking of tickets has been on all week now and the numbers are really encouraging. The film is on course to register the best first-day advance booking for any Tamil film this year, challenging the impressive number set by Kamal Haasan’s Vikram earlier this year. Depicting the immense craze of the film, in many cities down south, almost all shows have been booked for the entire weekend.As per the trade sources, the Tamil version of the film has sold tickets for opening day worth ₹10 crore gross alone on Thursday morning. In addition, the Telugu, Hindi, and Malayalam-dubbed versions contributed to advance booking sales of over ₹1 crore, giving the film a total advance booking sale for the first day at over ₹11 crore.While Ponniyin Selvan is a pan-India film, it’s popularity is mostly seen in the south region. From the total pre-booking collection, only 4% tickets sold are out of Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The hindi version has contributed to ₹18-20 lakhs so far. At the US box office, the film has already raked in $835,000 ( ₹6.8 crore) and is all set for a million-dollar final advance booking figure from the North American market alone.Ponniyin Selvan I, based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s novel of the same name, is a historical epic set in the Chola era. The film is a fictionalised account of the early days of the great Chola emperor Rajaraja I, and stars Jayam Ravi, Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Karthi and Trisha Krishnan.