EXCLUSIVE: Not Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Mani Ratnam reveals PS1 was initially planned with Kamal Haasan, Rekha

Magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan: I, directed by Mani Ratnam has already made a lot of noise before its release, all thanks to its ensemble cast and the grand scale that it was made. But did you know Mani Ratnam had thought of a different cast during the initial days of PS:1? That’s right. Not Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the Dil Se director had thought of veteran star Rekha as Nandini in Ponniyin Selvan. Yes, Aishwarya Rai was not the original choice but Rekha was chosen for Ponniyin Selvan. Moreover, he even wanted to have superstar Kamal Hassan in the movie, not for Vikram’s role.

When asked about the cast of the film, Mani Ratnam said in an exclusive interview with Bollywood Bubble, “The first time I thought of making it was with Kamal Hassan, before Vikram came in. I’ve thought of making this film with him for his Banner so we acquired the rights Kamal sir had acquired the rights for this book and we started working on it. It just didn’t fall into place because it was too huge and it didn’t make sense to compromise on it. We thought we leave it now and do it when the time is right.”

Earlier, during the trailer launch of PS1, superstar Rajinikanth actually gave an entire cast that he thought of Sridevi, Rekha, him, Kamal Haasan and Satyaraj for the film. When asked if he thought of that cast or if he ever thought of Rekha. To which, the director said, “Yeah, probably it was too early a stage we then got into casting when I first thought of the film. The only person that I had in mind was Kamal sir and maybe Rekha was an automatic choice. It was a no-brainer for Nandini. We didn’t go further on with that.”

 

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When asked why Rekha seemed to be the automatic choice for Ponniyin Selvan: I, Mani Ratnam explained, “She fitted I mean, sometimes you just feel that kind of a person. I know somebody who’s deep, who is beautiful and who can carry both sides of it. She can portray both sides very well.”

Ponniyin Selvan: I also starred Chiyaan Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Jayaram, and Prakash Raj. The movie clashed with Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan starrer Vikram Vedha and despite the clash, the film performed well in the South circuits.

Watch Mani Ratnam interesting interview here:

Also read: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan speaks about North Vs South debate: We need to break away from the typical way