Aishwarya Rai's 'Ponniyan Selvan' was to be filmed with THESE actors initially

Filmmaker Mani Ratnam is currently working on his dream project, Ponniyin Selvan. According to reports, the director had to wait for many years to produce the film based on a five-volume historical novel written by Kalki Krishnamoorthy.

According to reports, it was MG Ramachandran who first revealed that he would produce Ponniyin Selvan with a star-studded cast in 1958. However, the project did not take off.  Here's what filmmaker P Bharathiraja during a promotional event spoke about Ponniyan Selvan. 

MGR wanted to make Ponniyin Selvan with Kamal Haasan and Sridevi

In the early 2000s, Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan were reportedly working on the idea of collaborating together to bring on floors their dream project. With Ponniyin Selvan currently in the pre-production phase, veteran filmmaker P Bharathiraja made an interesting revelation about the movie, during the promotions of his upcoming directorial Meendum Oru Mariyathai. 

Bharathiraja spoke about the time when he was shooting for the song Ponmane Kobam Yeno for Oru Kaidhiyin Diary when MGR came and visited him on the sets. The duo shared a fun-conversation in which MGR shared that he was looking to produce a movie under his banner of MGR Pictures and said that he wanted the former to direct Ponniyin Selvan. Bharathiraja revealed that he was in shock. Furthermore, MGR said that he wanted Sridevi and Kamal Hassan to be a part of the film. 

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Helmed by Mani Ratnam, Ponniyin Selvan is the adaptation of a historical novel written by Kalki Krishnamurthy. The movie is a multi-starrer featuring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Vikram, Karthi, Jayaram Ravi and Trisha Krishnan in significant roles. The novel authored by Kalki Krishnamurthy traces the story of the early days of Arulmozhivarman, who later became the great Chola emperor Rajaraj Chola I.

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(Image courtesy: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Instagram and Madras Talkies Twitter)