Sathyaraj has been signed for the film 'Ponniyin Selvan'. M G R too wanted to act in this film. He put in a lot of effort but this did not materialize till the end. Kamal had also tried to act. But his effort was futile. Manirathnam is handling this beautiful classic project with ease. Vijay, Mahesh Babu, Arya and Anushka are starring in this film. Manirathnam has now signed Sathyaraj for this film. He is donning the role of a Buddhist monk. This is an important role in 'Ponniyin Selvan'. A R Rahman is composing the music for this film. This film is based on the historical novel 'Ponniyin Selvan'. It is a famous 2400 page, 20th-century, Tamil epic, written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Written in 5 volumes, this narrates the story of Arulmozhivarman (later crowned Rajaraja Chola – one of the Greatest Kings in Tamil history who ruled in the 10th – 11th century AD). 'Ponniyin Selvan' is widely regarded as the greatest novel ever written in Tamil. It deals with the fortunes of the Chola Empire during the 10th century. It was serialized in the Tamil periodical Kalki. The serialization went on for three and a half years and every week, its publication was awaited with great interest.