Ponniyin Selvan: actor Rajinikanth had imagined Sridevi as Kundavai
Rajinikanth, who was the chief guest at the grand Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 event in Chennai on Tuesday, said that he had imagined Sridevi as Kundavai after reading the book on which the film is based.
As industry legends like Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan attended the trailer and music launch of Mani Ratnam’s film Ponniyin Selvan in Chennai on Tuesday, some interesting facts related to the film were also shared on stage. Rajinikanth revealed he also wanted to be part of the film but Mani Ratnam turned down his request.
Mani Ratnam justified that Rajinikanth’s fans wouldn’t have accepted him in such a role and therefore refused to exploit him in such a way. Sharing the conversation with Mani Ratnam, he said, “I wanted to be a part of Ponniyin Selvan. Asked Mani to give me Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar. I said I’ll do a special appearance. Mani asked me ‘do you want me to get bashed by your fans?’”
“Anyone else would have agreed, but Mani didn’t. That’s Mani Ratnam,” added Rajinikanth.
Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan stars R Sarathkumar as Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar. He was the chancellor and treasurer of the Chola kingdom from the Paluvettaraiyar clan who was respected for his bravery on the battle field.
Rajinikanth also revealed the actors he had imagined as the star cast of the film. He said, “When I read the story, I imagined Kamal as Arulmozhivarman, Sridevi as Kundavai, Vijaykanth as Aditya Karikalan and Sathyaraj as Pazhuvettaraiyar.” Mani Ratnam’s film stars Trisha as Kundavai, Vikram as Aditya Karikalan, Jayam Ravi as Arulmozhivarman.
Meanwhile, Kamal Haasan revealed at the event that he also wanted to make a film on the book of Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 and wanted to cast Rajinikanth as Vandhiyathevan, which is now played by Vikram in the 2022 film.
Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 will be out in theatres on September 30. It will release in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. Aishwarya Rai has a dual role in the film that also stars Vikram, Trisha, Karthi, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Karthi and others.
