Ponniyin Selvan and its regal line of timeless jewellery

The posters of Ponniyin Selvan 1 show Trisha Krishnan decked up in beautiful jewellery, from her hair bun to long chains and the necklace around her neck.

As the queen of Pazhuvoor, Aishwarya Rai looks different on each poster - elegantly dressed with jewellery on one while another has her wearing an Andal bun and long chains.

Kundavai and Nandhini, the two beautiful lead characters of Ponniyin Selvan, have been brought alive onscreen just like how author Kalki Krishnamurthy created them, thanks to Pratiksha Prashant, the jewellery designer. 

When Pratiksha first walked into the world of PS 1, it was a one-off experience. As a traditional jeweller who never had any idea of cinema, Mani Ratnam and his team opened up a new world of creativity.

Along with Eka, Pratiksha travelled to several places in Tamil Nadu where the story is set, particularly to the temples.

She got photos of the sculptures, read the book and got artisans to make the sketches of each character.

As the book mentions a trade route between the Chola kingdom to Burma and the Burmese trade, Pratiksha used Burmese ruby for lead characters played by Aishwarya Rai and Trisha Krishnan.

She got the know-how from the research team at Mani Ratnam's Madras Talkies, which included historians who studied the motifs and styling of the Chola dynasty including details such as the Cholas following Shaivism, their tiger emblem. 

She then crafted a detailed brief of each character with specific, real identities.

After the research team gave the description, six jewellery designers from Kishandas further studied how to create jewellery specific to the era and the characters, considering clothing, hair styling, make-up, and the elements specific to each of the characters.

Every piece of jewellery was handcrafted by a team of 50 artisans to enhance the beauty of each character.

Around 400 pieces of real jewellery were handcrafted for the lead, secondary and tertiary characters who were a part of court celebrations, dance, and battle scenes.

The team of craftsmen and Pratiksha worked for over six months, right from studying history and researching the look of the characters.