Aishwarya to play dual roles in Ponniyin Selvan

Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan is all set to go on floors in a couple of months. According to sources, Karthi will play the protagonist Vanthiyathevan while Vikram and Jayam Ravi will play Karikala Cholan and Arulmozhi Varman (Rajaraja I), respectively. We had also reported that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will most probably be cast as Nandini, sources in tinseltown say that the actress has bagged the role of Mandakini Devi as well. According to the novel, Mandakini Devi was a speech-impaired queen and Nandini is the wife of treasurer Periya Pazhavettaraiyar. Nandini was a highly manipulative woman who plots the fall of the Chola Kingdom. A few months ago, one of the lead actors told us that the film will be Mani Ratnam’s version of the novel. There are also speculation that this film will highlight the life of Nandini. An official announcement along with the first look poster of the film will be unveiled in December.

The first schedule of the film will be shot for 100-days in a single schedule in Thailand with majority of the lead cast. Vikram will join the shoot of the film in February. Ponniyin Selvan will have its music by AR Rahman and cinematography by Ravi Varman. Thota Tharani is incharge of the art direction.