Ramya Krishnan‘s Neelambari from Padayappa was inspired by Ponniyin Selvan's Nandini

Mani Ratnam's magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan is one of the most anticipated movies. The movie is inspired by Kalki Krishnamurthy's book of the same name.

Ponniyin Selvan tells about the early days of Arunmozhi Varman, who went on to become the great emperor of the Chola dynasty, revered as Rajaraja Chola 1.

The makers of the movie have recently organized a star-studded trailer launch event in Chennai. The trailer launch event was attended by two legends of Indian cinema- Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth

While speaking at the event, Rajinikanth revealed an interesting fact about his film Padayappa which has a link with Ponniyin Selvan.

He revealed that Ramya Krishna's character Neelambari was inspired by Nandini’s character from Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan novel. 
 
“The story should not be Ponniyin Selvan. It is not about him, it should be Ponniyin Selvi – Nandini. It is her story. The story of the daughter of a great king who loses her father and mother. Sees her lover get beheaded in front of her eyes… As revenge, she gets Periya Pazhuvettariayar in her control and tells him only if you become the king and I become the queen of the Chola empire, you will get to enter my bedroom and you will have a space in my bed. You can’t see such a powerful role anywhere. Neelambari from my film Padayappa was based on her character,” Rajinikanth said. 

Anyone who has read the Kalki's novel will know the similarities between Nandini and Neelambari, added the Robot star. 

Notably, Former Miss World Aishwarya Rai will be essaying the role of Nandini in Mani Ratnam's adaptation.

For the unversed, it is not the first time Rajinikanth has spoken about Neelambari’s character. During the audio launch of Pa.Ranjith’s Kaala Rajinikanth said that Neelambari was of the two most powerful antagonists he has faced over time. 

"In my decades-long acting career, I found only two antagonists to be formidable and powerful. One is Antony from Baashaa and another is Neelambari from Padayappam, ”said the superstar. Baashaa and another is Neelambari from Padayappa.”