Rajini wanted to be part of Ponniyin Selvan. Here’s what Mani told

CHENNAI: 'Superstar' Rajinikanth, who was one of the chief guests along with Kamal Haasan at Mani Ratnam's Magnus opus Ponniyin Selvan-1's music and trailer launch event that happened at Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday revealed that he wanted to be part of the film, a cameo atleast, but Mani refused to it.

The Jailer actor said, "I wanted to be part of Ponniyin Selvan and asked Mani Ratnam to give me the role of Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar. I asked for a cameo atleast. Mani asked me 'Do you want me to get bashed by your fans?' Anyone else would have agreed, but Mani didn't. That's Mani Ratnam."

He further added, "I read 350 pages of Ponniyin Selvan and it went on and on. Then someone told me it has 5 volumes and 2,000 pages. I said 'ada poya.”

“In a magazine, late chief minister. J Jayalalithaa had said I would be suitable for Vanthiyathevan. I was so happy,” he continued.

Kamal, who was on the stage with Rajini said, "When I bought Ponniyin Selvan, Sivaji sir said, Vanthiyathevana avana podu (Rajini) and he wanted me to play Aditya Karikalan".

Rajini quickly reacted and said, "Oh is it so Kamal? I visualised you as Rajaraja Cholan, Sridevi as Kundavai and Vijay as Aditya Karikalan."

Directed by Mani Ratnam, Ponniyin Selvan's first part is scheduled to hit screens on September 30 and is based on the classic Tamil novel 'Ponniyin Selvan' by eminent writer Kalki.

The story, that revolves around the early life of prince Arulmozhi Varman, who later on went on to be known as the great Raja Raja Chozhan, is one of a kind.

The film, called by Mani Ratnam as his dream project, features a host of top stars, including Vikram, Shobhita Dhulipala, Aishwarya Rai, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Trisha, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Jayaram, Parthiban, Lal, Vikram Prabhu, Jayaram, Prabhu and Prakash Raj.

AR Rahman is scoring the music for this epic historical and cinematography is by Ravi Varman. National Award winning art director Thotta Tharani is in charge of production design while Mani Ratnam's trusted editor Sreekar Prasad is handling its editing.