New Delhi: Actress Amala Paul turned down an offer in Mani Ratnam's much-awaited magnum opus 'Ponniyin Selvan'. In an interaction with TOI, she shared that at the time when she was offered the role, she was not in the mental state to accept the project. ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ Part 1 or PS 1 has a stellar cast including the likes of Vikram, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai, Trisha, Sarath Kumar, Sobhita Dhulipala, and Aishwarya Lekshmi among others. The film is based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1955 novel ‘Ponniyin Selvan’.
‘Ponniyin Selvan’ is an epic-period drama which chronicles the history of the Chola dynasty and is said to be Mani Ratnam’s most ambitious project till date.
When asked about the films she wished she hadn't turned down, in an interview with Times of Times, Amala shared, "So, Mani Ratnam sir auditioned me for Ponniyin Selvan and I was so excited for that. I am a huge fan of Mani sir and I was so excited for it. And that didn't happen at that time. I was so disappointed and sad."
"Then in 2021, he called me for the same project. And like I said, I was not in the mental state to do it, so I had to turn it down. If you ask me if I regret doing that, I won't, because certain things are just perfect. It's perfectly designed and I think it's just about how we look at.”
Amala was recently seen in the Malayalam thriller 'Cadaver', the film in which she played a pathologist who helps police find a serial killer. Amala had also produced the film.
Amala was also part of Sony Liv's maiden Tamil anthology series 'Victim' in which she was in the part directed by Venkat Prabhu.
Amala has primarily worked in Tamil, Malayalam, and Telugu films. She made her Kannada debut opposite Sudeep in the film 'Hebbuli'. Paul is particularly known for her role in 'Mynaa'.