Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan series, featuring Chiyaan Vikram, Ravi Mohan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Trisha Krishnan, has been widely acclaimed as highly successful for numerous reasons. This sweeping historical tale was presented as a two-part movie saga that hit theaters between 2022 and 2023.
Fun fact: The director actually envisioned an entirely different group of actors for his movie as early as 2010!
Ponniyin Selvan was supposed to be made in 2010
Back in a 2010 Tamil interview, Mani Ratnam’s assistant and fellow director Dhana disclosed that Mani Ratnam had been contemplating the creation of Ponniyin Selvan since that time. He mentioned that Mani Ratnam had already started laying the groundwork for this project, and numerous conversations regarding it had transpired.
Primarily, Dhana shared that Mani Ratnam had a unique vision for the film’s cast, one that didn’t involve any of the actors who ended up being part of the Ponniyin Selvan production.
Were Mahesh Babu, Thalapathy Vijay first choice for Ponniyin Selvan?
Indeed, it’s true that Mahesh Babu and Thalapathy Vijay were the initial choices for the leading roles in Ponniyin Selvan. They both agreed to be part of the project, and some preliminary filming has already been done.
Indeed, I was among those eagerly anticipating the project’s progress, but it was Mani Ratnam himself who held off its execution due to his conviction that the technology of advanced Visual Effects (VFX) wasn’t widely accessible at the time. It was eventually put aside and revisited nearly a decade later.
When Mahesh Babu confirmed brief stint with Thalapathy Vijay for Ponniyin Selvan
Later, Mahesh Babu too shared the same sentiment, discussing his short collaboration with Thalapathy Vijay during a photo shoot for Mani Ratnam’s movie.
Seven days before the main shoot, there was a photoshoot with Vijay in Chennai. Unfortunately, the project was cancelled. Despite that setback, I maintain a strong friendship with Vijay; he’s more like a dear friend to me.
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2025-06-12 09:37