Mani Ratnam reveals original casting plans for Alaipayuthey

The 2000 Tamil film “Alaipayuthey,” directed by Mani Ratnam, starred Madhavan and Shalini and became a massive hit. The music for the film was composed by A.R. Rahman. Interestingly, Mani Ratnam recently revealed that he initially planned to direct the film with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the lead roles.

Speaking at a recent event, Mani Ratnam said, “When I narrated the story to Shah Rukh Khan, he immediately agreed. However, the climax of the film didn’t work out well at that time. As a result, I decided not to work on ‘Alaipayuthey’ and went on to make the film ‘Dil Se’ (Uyire). Later, we finalized the climax for ‘Alaipayuthey,’ which reignited my interest in directing it.”

The Tamil film was eventually remade in Hindi in 2002 by Shaad Ali as “Saathiya.”