Actor Chiyaan Vikram is all set to reprise his role of Aditha Karikalan in Mani Ratnam's second part of Ponniyin Selvan. But before he played the role in the epic historical drama on the big screen, he could have starred in one of the lead roles in its televised version, had he accepted an offer from actor Kamal Haasan. Recently, Vikram, during the promotions of Ponniyin Selvan 2, narrated how Haasan approached him a few years back with a TV series based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s epic novel called Ponniyin Selvan. But he refused to do it for the small screen and told the superstar that he would do it when the novel would be adapted for the silver screen. Vikram told News18, "Kamal sir called me to his office and told me that he wants to produce Ponniyin Selvan. He wanted to do it for television. He told me, ‘I would like you to do a role… You can do whichever role you want.’ So, I was given the chance to do any of the three roles. I told him that I would read the books.” However, Vikram got back to Haasan and told him about his decision the next day. He told him, "I got back to him and told him that I would wait for it to come to the big screen." But, Vikram is quite surprised how people always had him in mind when they thought about making the screen adaptation of the epic novel. Earlier, during the trailer launch event of Ponniyin Selvan: Part One, Haasan had revealed that he wanted to make Ponniyin Selvan and he even bought rights to the novel from matinee idol MG Ramachandran, who had then the official rights of turning this book into a movie. He said, "The story was with MGR and when I went and asked, he gave it to me. And he told me to make the film immediately. I didn’t understand why back then. The novel came into the public domain. I felt very bad about that. I always thought about whether it will be me or Mani who will be making something like Ponniyin Selvan. I tried but I couldn’t make it. But Mani has had this dream all along." Kamal Haasan was the narrator of Ponniyin Selvan 1. The film, set in the backdrop of the Chola empire, received a mixed reaction upon its release. Now, the second part of the movie will hit the screens on April 28. It stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karthi, Vikram, Trisha, and Jayam Ravi among others.
