PETALING JAYA, Sept 26 — Upcoming Tamil-language historical action film Ponniyin Selvan : 1 has already recorded massive sales in terms of its advance ticket bookings in India and America.

To be released in cinemas worldwide this Friday, the movie which features a star-studded cast such as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Vikram, and Karthi has recorded one crore (RM564,000) in terms of sales of advance ticket bookings.

In the US, the upcoming movie set in 10th century India during a tumultuous time in the Chola empire has crossed the US$400,000 mark (RM1.8 million) in terms of sales of advanced ticket booking, Hindustan Times reported.

Directed by award-winning director Mani Ratnam, the movie also features India’s famed music composer AR Rahman who is behind the soundtracks of the movie.

The movie, based on a historical novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy takes place during the Chola times where power struggle between different branches of the ruling family will lead to violent rifts between potential successors of the kingdom.

The historical epic was then serialised in a Tamil-language magazine Kalki between 1950 and 1954 and was published as five novels in 1955.

Ratnam and other theatre writers condensed the film into two parts with the first one to be released in cinemas worldwide starting from September 30.

Ponniyin Selvan : 1 is also set to be released in five languages including Tamil and Telugu.