Aishwarya Lekshmi, who essayed the role of Poonguzhali in Mani Ratnam’s historic ‘Ponniyin Selvan,’ has returned with the movie's second part. She said she was initially scared to play the part. In a recent interview, she added that Ratnam gave her the confidence to take the role. ‘Ponniyin Selvan 1’ was released last year and received rave reviews from critics.
The second part hit theatres last week. The movie also features Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karthi, Trisha, Vikram, Sobhita Dhulipala, Jayam Ravi, and Prakash Raj. Aishwarya said, “I didn’t think I could pull of Poonguzhali. The one thing Mani sir told me to give me confidence was, ‘Don’t worry, you can pull it off. And this character is sexy.’ At a time when you wouldn’t expect a woman to do a job that requires so much physical strength, she was somebody transported people by rowing a boat from one part of the town to another over a one-night journey across the ocean. That requires a lot of physical and mental strength as you don’t know what can happen in the ocean.”
She added, “She’s (Ponnguzhali) a boatwoman from the fishing community but she’s in love with the king even though she isn’t supposed to desire what she can’t get. She’s not expecting anything from him. Her love is pure.”
Based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1955 novels, the Tamil historical drama chronicles the story of the early days of Arulmozhivarman, a powerful king of the south who became the great Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I.