Trisha Krishnan was rejected for the role of Nandini, Mani Ratnam said 'Only Aishwarya Rai can do'

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With the release of Ponniyin Selvan: 2 (PS:2), seven months after the first installment, director Mani Ratnam fulfiled his long-cherished dream. The auteur had earlier spoken about how budget constraints prevented his desire to adapt Kalki Krishnamurthy's five-volume novel, Ponniyin Selvan (1955), into a movie, first in 1994 and then in 2011. The Tamil period drama also performed well at the first weekend at the global box office. The multi-starrer magnum opus collected Rs 170 crores at the worldwide box office, in its first three days.

The film stars actors Chiyaan Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sobhita Dhulipala and Trisha Krishnan in pivotal roles. While Aishwarya plays the role of Nandini in the film, Trisha had opened up about the time when she asked the film maker if she could essay the role of Nandini. To which, Mani Ratnam rejected and said, "only Aishwarya can do".

In a conversation with News 18, Trisha said, "I love Nandini, personally as well. I would have loved to play her. In fact I even told Mani (Ratnam) sir, on day one when I went to his office, for which he said ‘no, that's the first thing we already signed and it's done, only Aishwarya can do that,' and I was totally okay with it."

Also read: Trisha Krishnan Birthday: From 'Leo' to 'Ram', take a look at the upcoming movies of the 'PS 2' star

Trisha had also mentioned that Mani Ratnam had advised her and Aishwarya Rai to not be good friends off-camera as their roles of Princess Kundavai and Queen Nandini are arch rivals in the film.

Meanwhile, Chiyaan Vikram has reportedly suffered a major injury. Vikram was set to join the team for Pa Ranjith's 'Thangalaan' but unfortunately, the actor broke his rib during the rehearsals. Vikram will be out of action for at least a month as the shooting for 'Thangalaan' is on hold.