Celebrated filmmaker, Mani Ratnam, has been admitted to a private hospital in Chennai on Tuesday (July 19) reportedly after he showed COVID-19 symptoms. Though, some news reports claimed that the director has tested positive, the hospital where he is undergoing treatment has not released any official statement.
The director’s health condition is stable and he is showing no other symptoms. The 66-year-old director was last seen in public when he attended the funeral of actor Prathap Pothen. Earlier this month, however, the soft-spoken director helmed the teaser launch of his magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan-1 in Chennai. The launch was attended by the cast and crew, which included AR Rahman, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Trisha Krishnan, Aishwarya Lekshmi etc.
Also read: Actor Vikram in Chennai hospital with ‘chest discomfort’
On the day of the teaser launch, actor Vikram who plays Aditya Karikalan, the Chola prince, was hospitalised with mild chest pain and had to miss the teaser launch. The director has been working on his dream project, a period drama based on the classic Tamil novel by Kalki, for many years, which is slated for release on September 30. Like any other Mani Ratnam release, it will be viewed as a major cinematic event by film buffs.
On Monday, however, both Ratnam and Vikram were slapped with a legal notice by a lawyer who alleged that the history of Cholas seemed to be misrepresented in ‘Ponniyin Selvan:1’.
Also watch: Ponniyin Selvan teaser out | The Federal