How a single movie has promoted tourism in Tamil Nadu
A few months ago, there was this fabulous movie called "Ponniyin Selvan" that was released in Tamil Nadu. It is actually a historical movie. It had the famous Aishwarya Rai and a galaxy of other actors in it. It was directed by the ace director, Manirathnam, whose name is so famous all over India. One was told that this Tamil movie had a Hindi dubbing and a Telegu version as well.It is still on in some parts of Tamil Nadu. What happened after this movie was released is more interesting. Since the movie had several references to the erstwhile Chola and Pandian kingdoms, a massive number of people went in search of whatever remained in these places. For instance, tourism in and around Tanjore increased by a factor of ten, since the people were so keen to find out something related to the great king, Raja raja Cholan, whose empire included countries like Sri Lanka. The temple built by him stands tall even today, several centuries after it was built.
Similarly, the great Madurai, the third largest city of Tamil Nadu and reportedly the capital of the Pandiya also saw a massive influx of tourists. So, these kinds of movies are really very good, at taking the very young, to historical places. It is indeed a great experience to see the renewed interest in history pertaining to a particular place. The movie is based on a classic novel written by Kalki, a very famous author.
However, the movie has not only managed to relate to the novel, but also bring in the dance and the drama that is part of any Tamil movie.
