Rajinikanth recalls Aishwarya Rai’s rejection, Jayalalithaa’s Padayappa screening

Rajinikanth, in a special video celebrating 50 years of the actor in cinema, revisited the casting journey behind Padayappa, especially the initial desire to cast Aishwarya Rai as Neelambari. He recalled, “We wanted Aishwarya Rai to do the character …