Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Mani Ratnam are all smiles after Ponniyin Selvan’s big opening day. See pictures

Director Mani Ratnam’s much-anticipated movie Ponniyin Selvan: I was released in theatres on September 30, and the film has garnered positive reviews and big box ofice response so far. The film has an ensemble cast of Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karthi, and Trisha, among others. Ponniyin Selvan also marks Aishwarya’s comeback to the big screen after four years. 
On Saturday, Aishwarya took to Instagram and shared multiple pictures with Mani Ratnam. The actor and director were all smiles as they posed for the camera. Fans loved the duo and one of them wrote, “Do more films with each other.” Another fan wrote, “The greatest director-actor pair.” Fans also loved Aishwarya as Queen Nandini in the movie and said, “Aishwarya born to play Nandini.”

Talking about working with Mani Ratnam, Aishwarya said at a promotional event, “Working with Mani sir, he is my guru. I worked on my first film with him. I am blessed to get an opportunity to start my journey as an actor working with him. The perfect school, the perfect guru, because experience is the best teacher. A lot of work ethic, it all starts in the beginning.”

Mani Ratnam and Aishwarya’s collaboration goes back to the time when she made her debut with his film Iruvar, 25 years ago. After Iruvar, the duo have collaborated on multiple films such as Guru, Raavan and Raavanan. 
Ponniyin Selvan: I is based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s novel of the same name. The film and has collected Rs.25.86 crore in Tamil Nadu on day one, ranking third for the year in Tamil Nadu, behind Valimai and Beast.