Mani Ratnam had once rejected Trisha's request of wanting to play Nandini in ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ films.
The trailer of upcoming epic period action film 'Ponniyin Selvan-2', sequel to the hugely successful 'Ponniyin Selvan-1', was unveiled last month. The 'Ponniyin Selvan' films, which are based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's modern Tamil classic of the same name, are helmed by Mani Ratnam.
'Ponniyin Selvan-2', like the first film, stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Chiyaan Vikram, Karthi, Trisha Krishnan and Sobhita Dhulipala in leading roles.
While Aishwarya stars as Nandini in the film, Trisha recently opened up about the time when she had questioned the filmmaker if she can play Nandini. To which, Mani Ratnam rejected and said, “only Aishwarya can do”.
In an interaction with News 18, Trisha said, “I love Nandini, personally as well. I would have loved to play her. In fact I even told Mani (Ratnam) sir, on day one when I went to his office, for which he said ‘no, that’s the first thing we already signed and it’s done, only Aishwarya can do that,’ and I was totally okay with it.”
Trisha had also mentioned recently how the filmmaker told her and Aishwarya Rai to not be good friends off-camera as their roles of Princess Kundavai and Queen Nandini are arch rivals in the story.
The second part of Mani Ratnam’s historical fiction ‘Ponniyin Selvan 2’ was released in cinemas on April 28, 2023. The action drama promises to leave the audience glued to their seats.