After Cholas, Kollywood comes up with a mystery thriller about Pallavas titled Nandivarman

Thanks to Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan, the Chola dynasty has become a topic of debate in recent times. And now, an upcoming Tamil movie hopes to shed light on another dynasty of celebrated kings — the Pallavas.
‘Nandivarman’, directed by debut filmmaker Perumal Varadhan, is about the historic reference of Pallava dynasty’s most reputed king Nandivarman, and will showcase his greatness in ruling the lands and hearts of people.
This movie features ‘Kavalthurai Ungal Nanban’ fame Suresh Ravi in the lead role with Asha Gowda playing the female lead character. The others in the star cast include Nizhalgal Ravi, Bose Venkat, Aadukalam Murugadoss, Gajaraj, Ambani Shankar, Mullai Gothandam, Meesai Rajendran, Asuran Appu, Bommi Rajan, and JSK Gopi.
Perumal Varadhan has worked as associate cinematographer of Maragadha Nanayam, Ratsasan, and Bruce Lee, and as co-director of Kanni Maadam.
King Nandivarman is believed to have been killed by deceit 1,000 years ago, during which the entire land that he ruled got buried inside. It is believed from that from that point of time, the place started witnessing supernatural and paranormal activities after 6pm every day, and the people dwelling in that place wouldn’t step out of their houses after 6pm.
During this juncture, a team of archaeologists arrive at this place to excavate the land to know about Nandivarman and his kingdom. Unfortunately, to everyone’s shock, the team members start getting getting killed one by one mysteriously. What’s the actual reason behind all these mysterious mishaps? This forms the crux of this story, and the team says that this has been narrated with thrilling moments laced with historic reference and entertainment elements.
Director Perumal Varadhan says, “While visiting the Senji Fort, I came across an old man, who shared his paranormal encounters in that specific area. This instilled in me the curiosity to know more about it. The next day, I went to the same place, and heard another person sharing the same facts about this place. Significantly, many residing in that location shared the paranormal encounters that happened there. I came to know that the Pallavas ruled that region, which furthermore turned me more inquisitive to research and learn about the supernatural incidents. Eventually, I got to know about five Pallava kings among which Nandivarman was more prominent. Hence, I titled this movie with his name. When I continued to research about the supernatural elements in the Senji Fort area, I was surprised to know that one cannot move into particular area after a certain distance. Yes, you can see the path easily, and you can see it, but cannot cross it. I didn’t want this movie to be a mere supernatural thriller, but one that showcases the beauty of Pallavas. You can find some pillars at Pondicherry Beach, which are carried from Senji Fort. The emblems and history of Pallavas have been destroyed and one among them are the pillars."
The director informs that they will be screening a two-minute 2D animation video about the Pallava dynasty before the start of the movie. He says, "We have shot major portions in Senji Fort, but the scenes involving the paranormal episodes have been shot in Chengalpet. We came across many challenges while shooting this movie and also experienced some surprises as well. In particular, there was one particular incident, where we started digging the ground for one particular sequence in Chengalpet, where we came across a gruesome human-face like large rock that left us appalled. Following this incident, the grand set work that we had erected was destroyed in severe flood. Thank God! None of us in the team were injured due to this. The unconventional challenges didn’t stop here, but continued with many issues, like the hard disk containing the entire movie footage getting corrupted. Even now, the teaser that was supposed to get screened to media in laptop got corrupted. All these incidents and experiences are giving a supernatural feeling indeed.”
The grand success of Ponniyin Selvan is sure to inspire and propel many creators to make similar movies based on the historic period of Tamil Nadu. When asked director Perumal Varadhan if the same reason motivated him to make ‘Nandivarman’, he replies, “Even before the announcement of Ponniyin Selvan, the complete screenplay of this movie was done... I was looking out for the producers for few months, and during this time alone, the official announcement of Ponniyin Selvan was made. To be precise, my movie was supposed to materialise even before the announcement of Ponniyin Selvan. All that I can assure is that Nandivarman will reveal the interesting elements about Pallavas and will be a good treat for the universal audiences.”