The 1950 historical novel, Ponniyin Selvan, by Kalki Krishnamurthy is being made into a feature film of the same title. The 5-part volume novel narrates the life of Arulmozhivarman of the Chola Empire and has been regarded as one of the greatest work of Tamil literature.
Filmmaker Mani Ratnam is intending to turn this novel into a feature film with a star-studded cast that includes Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Amala Paul, Sathyaraj and Mohan Babu. At the recent Cannes Film Festival, we have learned that Aishwarya Rai Bachan joins the cast list as a lead role. In 1997, Aishwarya made her acting debut under the direction of Mani Ratnam in Iruvar and last worked with him on Raavan in 2010.
In an interview, she said, “Mani (Ratnam) hasn’t formally announced it yet, but the word is out, so I will commit to the fact that yes, I am working with him. I will always be more than thrilled, overwhelmed, humbled and happy to work with my guru, Mani. So yeah, that’s happening”.
Aishwarya Rai at Cannes Film Festival 2019Speculations have it that Aishwarya will be playing Nandini, the wife of Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar who was the chancellor and treasurer of the Chola kingdom. Aishwarya was last seen in the 2018 Fanney Khan and we will be seeing her again when Ponniyin Selvan goes on floors in 2020.
