Mumbai, Oct 1 (IANS): South star Trisha Krishnan read all five volumes of Kalki Krishnamurthy's book Ponniyin Selvan to prepare for her role in Mani Ratnam's movie 'Ponniyin Selvan: I'(PS 1).

She said: "When we started shooting for the film, the entire world was hit by the pandemic which led to a lockdown. So, during that period, I read all 5 volumes of the novel. I used to believe that historic fictional novels are hard to read but this was very interesting."

The 39-year-old actress rose to fame with Tamil movies such as 'Saamy', 'Ghilli', 'Aaru' and she also acted in several Telugu projects including 'Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana' and 'Athadu'.

She appeared on 'The Kapil Sharma Show' along with 'PS 1' co-stars Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Karthi,and Sobhita Dhulipala.

She spoke further on her preparations for the role: "After finishing one book, you will be compelled to pick the next one, it's that intriguing. But the novel and the film are quite different because the way Mani sir beautifully summarised 5 books into 2 films is beyond my imagination. So, I call this film Mani Ratnam's 'PS 1'."

Vikram also added to the conversation in a hilarious way: "Half the payment was for reading the book!"

'The Kapil Sharma Show' airs on Sony Entertainment Television.