At the grand audio launch event of Ponniyin Selvan: Part One (PS1), actor Rajinikanth revealed that he very much wanted to be part of the movie when filmmaker Mani Ratnam announced the project in 2019.  "When Mani Ratnam announced in 2019 that he has started the work for the film (Ponniyin Selvan Part One and Two), I called and asked him to let me play the role of Periya Pazhuvettarayar. He out rightly said no and asked if I wanted (Rajinikanth) fans to scold him."

Periya Pazhuvettarayar is played by Sarathkumar in PS 1 and according to the books on which the movie is based, not only does he have the Chola King under his control, he is also in favour of Rahman's character Mathurantaka ascending the throne instead of Vikram's Adhitha Karikalan. Periya Pazhuvettarayar also is married to a much younger Nandini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) and inadvertently becomes part of her conspiracies against the Chola empire. [More backstory here]

However Periya Pazhuvettarayar is not one of the protagonists of the story and Rajinikanth revealed that Mani Ratnam did not want to offer him the role precisely for this reason. "Mani Ratnam said that this is not the role of a superstar and the screen presence is very less. I still wanted to do it. He said 'I will not exploit you' and convinced me that I have better films (roles) to do...This is what you call an excellent director. If it was anyone else, they would have agreed to my request. That's the reason he is Mani Ratnam."