The teaser release of Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan: 1 has created quite a rage on social media, not least because of its star cast. As we all know, the story is an adaptation of Kalki’s famous 1955 novel Ponniyin Selvan. We have made a list of five other prominent films whose stories were also adapted from popular novels.

This is of course not an exhaustive list. We have also excluded some films intentionally, such as Mullum Malarum, which was only partly adapted by the legendary director Mahendran from a novel.

The five films we have picked (in no particular order) are:

1) Asuran

This 2019 film helmed by Vetrimaaran and starring Dhanush went on to become a blockbuster. It was subsequently even remade with great success in other languages. The story that revolves around the bond between a father and his son and their quest for survival was adapted from Poomani’s highly acclaimed Tamil novel Vekkai.

2) Naan Kadavul

Naan Kadavul, released in 2009, remains one of director Bala’s best films. A moving drama centered around an Aghori (played by the fantastic Arya), the story was adapted from Jeyamohan’s Tamil novel Yezhaam Ulagam. Jeyamohan himself has also written the dialogues for the film.

 3) Thillana Mohanambal

A classic for the ages, this 1968 Sivaji Ganesan starrer that told the story of a Nadaswaram player who falls in love with a Bharatanatyam dancer, was adapted from a novel of the same name by Kothamangalam Subbu. This film won two national awards and five state awards upon its release and has since attained cult status. 

4) Visaranai

This is the second Vetrimaaran film in this list. Visaranai tells the story of police brutality unleashed on a group of innocent men and was adapted from the autobiographical novel ‘Lock Up’ by Chandrakumar. Apart from the powerful and affecting visuals, the acting performances by its lead actors (led by the superb ‘Attakathi’ Dinesh) received a lot of praise from all quarters.

5) Kuttram 23

This crime drama starring Arun Vijay in the lead role of a cop was adapted from Rajesh Kumar’s Tamil novel ‘Enni Ettavathu Naal’. The film itself received mixed reviews but the storyline that revolved around sensitive medical topics such as artificial insemination was considered contemporary and a shift away from cliched thriller plots.