Chennai, Aug 1 (IANS): Actor Jayam Ravi, who plays the titular role of 'Ponniyin Selvan' (also known as prince Arun Mozhi Varman) in director Mani Ratnam's upcoming magnum opus, 'Ponniyin Selvan', has said that it was actor Karthi, who plays the pivotal character of Vanthiya Thevan in the film, who motivated him to learn horse riding for the film.

Addressing a huge crowd that had gathered at the Express Avenue mall in the city where the first single track of the film, 'Ponni Nadhi', was launched on Sunday evening, Jayam Ravi said: "They would wake us up at 3 in the morning to train on horses."

The actor, however, disclosed that he was scared of horses. "It was Karthi who would motivated me to train with the horses, saying, 'Come Machi, we can handle this. He was the one who helped me and gave me confidence. It is very difficult to find such a person."

However, the actor also went on to admit that he was a little rattled when one day he got to know that Karthi had had an accident while training with horses.

"One day, I was at the hotel when I received information that Karthi had fallen off his horse. I was concerned and a little rattled. If someone like Karthi could suffer an accident, I imagined my plight," he said.

Called by Mani Ratnam as his dream project, the film, the first part of which releases on September 30, features a host of top stars including actors Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Trisha, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Jayaram, Parthiban, Lal, Vikram Prabhu, Jayaram, Prabhu and Prakash Raj. It is among the most expensive projects ever undertaken in the country.