Anushka turns down Ponniyin Selvan for #MeToo cause?

Anushka Shetty, who is awaiting the release of Nisabdham was approached by ace director Mani Ratnam a few months ago to play an important role in his magnum-opus Ponniyin Selvan. Despite the cast and crew of the film almost being finalised, the Baahubali actress is said to have walked out of the project. A source in tinseltown said that Anushka rejected the project because Vairamuthu, who was accused of sexual misconduct by Chinmayi and other women is penning the lyrics for the film. “Though the actress hasn’t been vocal about the issue, she wanted to show her support for the MeToo movement by not accepting the film, which has a person on board who was accused of sexually abusing women.”

When contacted, Siva Ananth, the executive producer of Mani Ratnam’s Madras Talkies, told DT Next, “There has been no official announcement on the cast and crew of the film yet. We cannot confirm if Anushka or Vairamuthu are part of the project until an announcement comes from the production house. Ponniyin Selvan is a multistarrer where we had approached a lot of actors to see if they would suit the requirement of the script. Even for Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, we had approached a lot of actors before zeroing in on the star cast. Ponniyin Selvan is being made on a much bigger scale hence we request everyone not to speculate.” The complete cast and crew of the film will be announced by Mani Ratnam and Lyca Productions in a couple of weeks. Ponniyin Selvan will begin rolling in Thailand fromDecember.