Ponniyin Selvan: Lesser Known Facts About Aishwarya Rai Starrer Period Drama

'Ponniyin Selvan 2', the second installment in Mani Ratnam's magnum opus, was a box office smash. The five-part novel series with the same title by Kalki Krishnamurthy was adapted for the screen.

Ponniyin Selvan is a work of historical fiction written by Kalki Krishnamurthy.

The period drama tells the tale of the Chola Dynasty. And here are a few intriguing facts about the movie that has been making headlines.

Ponniyin Selvan's film rights were bought by MGR, also known as M. G. Ramachandran, in 1985. But he couldn't work on the film as he met with an accident.

Written by Kalki Krishnamurthy, Ponniyin Selvan is a work of historical fiction. Prior to appearing as a book in five parts in the year 1955, it was first published in weekly editions from 1950 to 1954.

The actual events preceding Chola's rise turned into the inspiration for the film. In the story, Arulmozhi Varman, afterward known as Rajaraja Chola 1, is portrayed from his early years.

Mani Ratnam first considered Mahesh Babu and Thalapathy Vijay for the roles of Arunmozhi Varman and Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan, respectively.

Mani Ratnam first expressed his interest in making the film in 1994. Kamal Haasan, who had then acquired the film's rights, and he collaborated on the first draft, but the project was shelved.

The only actor that was approached by Mani Ratnam a second time is actor Vikram, who plays Aditya Karikalan. He was approached in 2012 for the same role.

Rajinikanth reportedly approached Mani Ratnam himself because he was so eager to be a part of 'Ponniyin Selvan', but the director turned him down.