A celebration marking the sale of more than one lakh copies of novelist Su Venkatesan's critically acclaimed work 'Velpari' took place at Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai the other day. Many notable figures attended the event, including actor Rajinikanth and filmmaker Shankar. Rajinikanth spoke about the place of Shankar as a filmmaker in the history of Tamil cinema. "If you look beyond CV Sridhar and K Balachander, one of the main directors to have redefined Tamil cinema after Bharathiraja and Mani Ratnam is Shankar," said the actor. He emphasised that Shankar makes films that are not only 'brahmandam' (large-scale epic) but that also socially relevant. He also added that he knows Shankar has acquired the rights to adapt Velpari for the big screen and is looking forward to the film, like everyone else.
The novel is a historical fiction about Vel Paari, a benevolent tribal chieftain of the Velir clan, who ruled Parambu Nadu during the Sangam period. The central plot revolves around Velpari's resistance against the combined might of the three powerful Tamil kingdoms (Cheras, Cholas, and Pandiyas) who seek to conquer his naturally abundant land.
Shankar has described the Velpari adaptation as his "dream project," aiming to create a grand, global-standard cinematic experience akin to Game of Thrones or Avatar, with a significant focus on visual effects, costumes, and overall production scale.
