Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was last seen in an extended cameo in Anil Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao’s 2018 film Fanney Khan. Right after the release of Fanney Khan, the diva was set to reteam with husband Abhishek Bachchan for an Anurag Kashyap production. However, before the movie could start rolling, Kashyap’s production house Phantom Films dissolved and the project went into the cold storage.
After a long wait, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan recently confirmed her next film with celebrated filmmaker Mani Ratnam. For the uninitiated, the former Miss World started her acting career with Ratnam’s 1997 Tamil film Iruvar and then permanently shifted to Bollywood. The duo last worked together on the 2010 Hindi film Raavan, which also featured Abhishek Bachchan. And now, after a gap of almost a decade, Aish and Ratnam have joined forces for a bilingual film called Ponniyin Selvan.
The latest update on the project is that Mani Ratnam is set to roll the camera in November. The renowned director is presently busy with the pre-production work of his dream project. Besides Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, several top South Indian actors including Jayam Ravi, Karthi and Vikram are reportedly on board to play principal characters in the movie. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has also been approached for a crucial role in the period drama. However, his association with the project is yet to be confirmed.
Chiyaan Vikram is reportedly playing the character of Aditya Karikalan in Ponniyin Selvan, while Karthi will be seen as Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan. Jayam Ravi will portray the character of Raja Raja Chola I and actress Keerthy Suresh essays the role of Kundavai. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been cast to play Nandini, while Tollywood actor Mohan Babu will reportedly play Periya Pazhuvettarayar.
Ponniyin Selvan is the silver screen adaptation of late Kalki Krishnamurthy's historical novel by the same name. Lyca Productions is bankrolling the project which is set to be shot on a huge scale.
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