Did you know Mani Ratnam wanted Rekha as Nandini before Aishwarya Rai in Ponniyin Selvan: I?

Mani Ratnam's long-awaited and ambitious film, Ponniyin Selvan, which he has been planning to do since the 80s, is finally seeing the light in 2020, on September 30 for release in theaters. Since the trailer launch, it has been revealed that the filmmaker planned the film in the 1990s itself with Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, now he has revealed he had plans of roping in veteran actress Rekha too. Yes, he wanted Rekha for the character of Nandini, which is being played by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Ponniyin Selvan I.

In the 1990s, Mani Ratnam attempted to make Ponniyin Selvan but the project did not take off as planned. Now, ahead of the release, Mani Ratnam opened up about casting for the project in media interaction and revealed that the only other actor he had wanted to work with for the Nandini character in the past was Rekha. The filmmaker said, "Before Aishwarya, I wanted to work with Rekha for the same character. Didn't have any other actors in mind for this role."

Earlier in July, the first look poster of Aishwarya's character Nandini was unveiled and she was introduced as the queen of Pazhuvoor, who is on a mission of vengeance.

During the trailer launch, it was revealed that Kamal Haasan was set to play ArunmozhiVarman, the Chola King played by Jayaram Ravi in Ponniyin Selvan I, and Rajinikanth for the role of Karthi's Vanthiyathevan. Rajinikanth said that when he heard Ponniyin Selvan's story for the first time, he imagined Sridevi as Kundavai.

Ponniyin Selvan will also see Vikram as Aditya Karikalan, Trisha as Kundavai, and Jayam Ravi as Arunmozhi Varman. Apart from these, Sarathkumar, Prabhu, Lal, Kishore, Ashwin Kakumanu, and Aishwarya Lekshmi will also play other supporting roles in this period's action drama. The storyline of Ponniyin Selvan has been adapted from Kalki Krishnamurthy's novel of the same name. It narrates the tale of Rajaraja Chola I from the Chola dynasty.