Rajinikanth’s 1999 hit film Padayappa is set to re-release in theatres, and ahead of it, Rajinikanth revisited the casting process of the film and how he wanted to cast Aishwarya Rai in the role of Neelambari but soon realised her disinterest in the movie.

In the video that Rajinikanth shared, he spoke about his wish to cast Aishwarya and said, “We wanted Aishwarya Rai to do the character of Neelambari. We tried to reach out to her after a lot of difficulties. If she had said yes to the movie, I was willing to wait for even 2–3 years because that character was like that. It was imperative for that role to click, but we heard that she was not interested. Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit and several names were considered. But we were looking for that power in the heroine’s eyes to pull off Neelamba

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