Throwback: When Mammootty auditioned for Prakash Raj’s role in the Mohanlal-Mani Ratnam project Iruvar

Iruvar, the 1997-released Tamil period political drama, which is helmed by Mani Ratnam, has been considered one of the finest films ever made in this genre in Indian cinema. The movie, which is largely inspired by the lives of former Tamil Nadu Cheif Minister trio MG Ramachandran, M Karunanidhi, and J Jayalalithaa, is a must-watch for any movie lover. Mohanlal played one of the protagonists, Aanandan – a character based on the legend MGR, while Prakash Raj appeared as Thamizh Selvan, a role based on M Karunanidhi. 

When Mammootty auditioned for the role of Thamizh Selvan in Iruvar

For the unversed, director Mani Ratnam was very keen to bring Malayalam cinema’s biggest superstars – Mammootty and Mohanlal together, for Iruvar. While Mohanlal was roped in to play the role of Aanandan, Mammootty was approached to essay Thamizh Selvan. The megastar even underwent an audition and screentest for the character, which was a very rare thing in Indian cinema, in those days. However, Mammootty decided to back out from the project reportedly because of the difficulty in pulling off his character’s dialogues – which were mostly poetic and written in pure Tamil.

Even though Mammootty was fluent in the Tamil language, the megastar understood that he might not be able to do justice to the heavy Tamil poems mouthed by his character by Thamizh Selvan. His keen interest in playing with the dialogues and voice modulation also prompted him to walk out of the project. The megastar reportedly also suggested director Mani Ratnam choose an actor who can easily pull off Tamil language in all its glory. Eventually, the role went to Prakash Raj, and he won a National Award for his performance in the film.