Rajiv Menon's Kandukondain Kandukondain is one of Tamil cinema's most popular relationship dramas. The film, which recently celebrated its 25-year release anniversary, is an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility and stars Ajith Kumar, Mammootty, Tabu, Aishwarya Rai, and Srividya, among others. Interestingly, Rajiv recently revealed that he had another actor in mind to play Meenakshi, one of the three daughters in the story.
Speaking on the show I AM with Dhanya Varma, the filmmaker-cinematographer-actor revealed that he first approached Manju Warrier for the character. The film's director said that he narrated the story to Manju because he wanted a bold and forthright actress for the role. "At that time, I had seen a lot of films of Manju Warrier and felt that she would be appropriate for it," the director disclosed. While Manju found it a "nice story," the filmmaker said that she left him hanging by without conveying him whether she would like to do it.
"She was not committing because she was planning to marry and stop acting. So she kept saying that it is nice and she would tell me about it later, but she never did. Then, I realised that it was not going to work, and I did not know what I was going to do about it," Rajiv Menon said.
The filmmaker had already received Tabu's consent for the project. "Tabu had agreed, and she has that gravitas of sadness and sorrow. She can convey that long-standing pain with one look," Rajiv said. However, the filmmaker had some trouble finding an actor to play the sibling of Tabu's character in Kandukondain Kandukondain, despite approaching Soundarya. Eventually, Rajiv's wife Latha told him to approach Aishwarya Rai. "Ash had done Iruvar and I think she was doing Taal at that time," Rajiv said.
Aishwarya Rai had a strong emotional response to Rajiv's narration of the story and agreed to do the part. When Rajiv told her that her remuneration might not be affordable, the actor told him not to bother about it because he told her not to work with him on a film in the past and encouraged her to star in Iruvar. "She told me, 'Whatever you do, I will act in it,'" Rajiv signed off.
