Aishwarya Rai looks regal as Nandini as she waits for her shot on sets of Ponniyin Selvan. See pic

A throwback picture of Aishwarya Rai posing for the camera with a team member behind the scenes of Ponniyin Selvan has gone viral. The film is directed by Mani Ratnam.

As fans of Aishwarya Rai wait for her period drama Ponniyin Selvan - 1 to release in theatres, a behind-the-scenes throwback picture made its way online. It shows Aishwarya in the getup of her character, Nandini, posing with a team member and the camera.

Aishwarya Rai on sets of Ponniyin Selvan.

Aishwarya Rai has a dual avatar in the film, one of Nandini, the princess of Pazhuvoor who is on a mission to seek vengeance; and the other being Nandini's deaf and mute mother, Mandakini Devi. The film is Aishwarya's fourth project with director Mani Ratnam, after she made her film debut with his Tamil directorial Iruvar and went on to star in his Hindi films, Guru and Raavan.

Aishwarya Rai with a crew member on sets of Ponniyin Selvan.

The teaser of the much-anticipated film was unveiled in July. The gripping teaser portrayed beautiful locations of the ancient era as the Cholas were seen fighting valiantly amid a power struggle in the 10th century. Ponniyin Selvan-Part 1 is a cinematic adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthy's Tamil novel of the same name which was released in the form of a series during the 1950s.

Ponniyin Selvan boasts of an ensemble cast of Vikram, Karthi, Trisha, and Jayam Ravi. Vikram will portray the role of Aditya Karikalan, Karthi will play Vanthiyathevan, Trisha will be seen as Kundavai and Ravi will portray the character of Arunmozhi Varman.

The AR Rahman musical is set to hit the theatres on September 30 in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada langauges. The big-budget period film will be released in multiple parts. The first song from the film, Kaveri Se Milne, was released last month. Titled Ponni Nadhi in Tamil, the song is an ode to the Kaveri river, sung and composed by AR Rahman, and features Karthi travelling through a beautiful landscape on his horse.