With Mani Ratnam's magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan -1 being the much awaited movie of this year, we're learning something new about the Tollywood period drama every passing day. Did you know, Bollywood icon Rekha was Rantam's first choice for Nandini's role, and not Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The filmmaker made this revelation in an interview while promoting PS-1.

In the 1990s, Mani Ratnam tried to make the grand period drama but it didn't work out. However, a few decades later, the magnum opus is just days away from releasing. In recent promotional interviews, the filmmaker opened up about casting for Ponniyin Selvan 1. Expressing his wish of working with Rekha, he said, 'Before Aishwarya, I wanted to work withRekhafor the same character. Didn't have any other actors in mind for this role.'

During the trailer launch, it was revealed that Kamal Hassan was to play ArunmozhiVarman, the Chola King played by Jayaram Ravi in Ponniyin Selvan I, and Rajinikanth for the role of Karthi's Vanthiyathevan.

Apart from the headlining actors, Ponniyin Selvan I will also see Vikram as Aditya Karikalan, Trisha as Kundavai, and Jayam Ravi as Arunmozhi Varman. Apart from these, Sarathkumar, Prabhu, Lal, Kishore, Ashwin Kakumanu, and Aishwarya Lekshmi will also play other supporting roles in this period's action drama.