Ponniyin Selvan 1 Film Review: Mani Ratnam is familiar with Kalki’s novel is a mainstream page-turner, so he keeps its flavour and neither intellectualises it nor dumbs it down.
After Baahubali, RRR, and KGF movies, Mani Ratnam’s “PS1” is the only length drama that stuck the eye of everyone. The hype surrounding the movie has been huge. $1 million bookings withinside the USA on my own show how lots buzz the movie has generated.
Let’s discover whether or not the movie lives as much as the expectations.
Story of Ponniyin Selvan 1:
Pallavatturyar (Sarath Kumar) and his spouse Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) are plotting to make Madhurantakudu (Rahman) as the subsequent king in area of Aditya Karikaludu (Vikram).
Upon this records Kundavi (Trisha) sends Vanthiyadevudu (Karthi), a secret agent, to carry her brother Arunmozhi aka Ponniyan Selvan (Jayam Ravi) from Srilanka to Tanjore.
Meanwhile, any other batch is going out to kill Ponniyan Selvan. The relaxation of the movie is all approximately Ponniyan Selvan looking to go back to his birthplace.
Artistes’ Performances:
The movie has many characters however only some get importance. Among them, Karthi as Vandiyadevudu takes the top area.
The movie starts offevolved together along with his adventure from one area to the different. The first 1/2 of of the movie has Karthi dominating the display. He tries comedy as properly.
Vikram as Aditya Karikaludu seems handiest in 3 episodes. His performing offers a déjà vu feeling.
Jayam Ravi as Arunmozhi Varma aka Ponniyan is neat.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan performs a twin role. As Nandini, she has a exceptional display presence. She receives a constrained scope to expose her overall performance however she holds the eye together along with her attraction and grace. Trisha as princess Kundavi is beautiful. She appears lots more youthful than her actual age.
Prakash Raj and Sarath Kumar play their components properly. Sobhita Dhulipala and Aishwarya Lekshmi get minor roles.
Technical Excellence:
The high-quality a part of the movie is the incredible manufacturing layout through Thota Tarani. The units are classy. He recreates the Chola length. Ravi Varman’s digital digicam has improved the manufacturing layout further. The VFX paintings is staggering in a few places, and now no longer up to speed in different places. AR Rahman’s songs have now no longer labored withinside the movie however his historical past rating is riveting.
The Telugu communicate writing (through Tanikella Bharani) is okay.
Highlights:
Production layout
Twists and turns
Aishwarya Rai and Trisha
Drawback:
Hard to apprehend the primary 1/2 of
Leisure pace
No goose bump moments
Analysis
The makers proclaimed ‘PS1’ as ‘the tale of India’s best empire.’ Based on a Tamil novel named “Ponniyan Selvan”, Mani Ratnam made the movie in components and the primary element is here. Before the release, there had been comparisons between “PS1” and Rajamouli’s “Baahubali” however each are completely different, neither of them suits in any way be it conflict sequences or grandeur of visuals.
“PS-1” is a tale primarily based totally on actual records and the numerous characters with tough-to-take into account names hold coming. Getting tune of the names and characters themselves is a bulky task. For folks who aren’t acquainted with the unconventional and the records like this reviewer, it’s miles hard to apprehend the complaints and getting the characters.
The movie starts offevolved with Vandhiyadevudu’s adventure. Karthi as Vandhiyadevudu flirts with women, dances, does comedy stunts, performs with a Brahmin (performed through Jayaram), and indulges in fights. Through him, we meet all of the characters, first Aditya Karikaludu, then Nandini after that Kundavi, and finally Ponniyan Selvan. His lengthy adventure and lots of subplots occupy the tale of this element one.
However, the movie is based in a manner that lots of the plot occurs withinside the first 1/2 of, which may be very tough to apprehend. By the time we get the tale, the movie involves an c language bang. With a lot cognizance on many characters and their historical past, we don’t get any excessive moments. In the complete first 1/2 of, the handiest fascinating second is Vikram killing someone while Aishwarya Rai pleading him to pardon her.
The 2nd 1/2 of of the movie shifts drama to Sri Lanka in which Ponniyan Selvan is residing. The visuals withinside the 2nd 1/2 of are incredible. The motion series on a ship is the primary highlight. The movie involves its groove on this element. But then it ends fast with a twist, which in no manner suits to ‘Kattappa’ twist.
The movie’s largest electricity is the manufacturing layout and cinematography. The places are any other highlight. These are made for massive display experience. But the narrative isn’t always sturdy sufficient to revel in them. For the Tamil audience, the movie may go properly due to the fact they may be acquainted with the tale and the characters. For us, it’s miles a bulky experience.
On the whole, ‘PS-1’ notwithstanding its grandeur and excessive-making values, is a long way from engaging. You want a whole lot of staying power to observe the slow-paced drama this is almost 2 hours forty five minutes.
The hardest factor of adapting Ponniyin Selvan right into a movie is the way to condense a magnum opus spanning 2000 pages right into a 2.five hour film. It’s a hard choice — what to apply and what to discard. Here’s in which Mani Ratnam wins. He cuts via the faff (honestly, there’s lots withinside the text) and takes handiest matters that flow the tale forward. Covering approximately -and-a-1/2 of books of the five-element series, Ponniyin Selvan 1 tells the tale that takes area in more than one places. With Sundara Cholan’s (performed through Prakash Raj) failing health, a coup is staged to save you prince Aditha Karikalan (Vikram) from turning into the subsequent king. The younger prince, who’s farfar from the capital, sends his pal Vallavarayan Vanthiyathevan (Karthi), a secret agent and a messenger from Kanchi, to locate the traitors. This is simply one piece of the jigsaw, with different plotlines regarding Arulmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi) in Sri Lanka and Kundhavai (Trisha) in Pazhayarai. While it’s hard to even write a pithy synopsis of the five-element novel, Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan unearths time and area to consist of the high-quality of the authentic and upload immersive conflict sequences.
Mani Ratnam makes the drama extra engrossing than the sword fights. The assembly of Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) and Kundhavai (Trisha) is sparkling, Aditha Karikalan’s monologue approximately Nandini is memorable, and Vallavarayan Vanthiyathevan’s hopeless pick-up traces are extra fun than sinking ships and burning forts. Take the scene in which Pazhuvettaraiyar brothers (Sarathkumar and Parthiban) meet Sundara Cholan. The king is aware of the , who’ve been trustworthy buddies of the kingdom, are plotting in opposition to him. How do you display this ache with out communicate? Here’s how: the king is present process acupuncture remedy and the docs are piercing his ‘returned’ with needles as he speaks to the traitors. It is an glaring symbolism, however diffused and effective. Similarly, we’ve quite normal dialogues sans the same old Mani Ratnam touch. The director has stated in advance he turned into concerned approximately the dialogues as he desired them to be natural Tamil however now no longer dramatic and archaic. Tamil creator Jeyamohan grew to become out to be the proper guy for the job. The traces seldom sound atypical to the viewer who doesn’t talk that antique Tamil anymore.
A plot that feels complex however is in the long run too simplistic: With that explanation out of the manner, PS1 begins offevolved off with the grand access of Vikram’s Aditha Karikalan, the eldest son of Prakash Raj’s Sundara Chola, as he efficaciously leads an assault in opposition to a rival Pandya ruler. The massive-finances set portions are on complete show and the visitors is probably hyped for what’s to follow.
Alas, what follows is a painstakingly lengthy hour in which Vikram disappears and Karthi’s Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan takes centrestage (a commander of the Chola military and a pal of Aditha Karikalan). The plot progresses while Karthi discovers a conspiracy to usurp the Chola throne. While maximum of the protagonists assist Jayam Ravi’s Arulmozhi Verman (essentially Vikram’s more youthful brother) because the rightful inheritor to the throne; the antagonists returned a person else, the princes’ uncle.
It is that this Shakespearean conflict of royal competitors in the Chola own circle of relatives that paperwork the idea with a whole lot of person names filled into the narrative in a few manner or the different. But in contrast to a Shakespearean play, there aren’t many communicate-pushed moments for the characters to face out.
Given that I haven’t study the authentic novel, I can not solution whether or not PS1 is a sturdy edition or now no longer. However, from a layperson’s perspective, it takes time to recognize PS1’s tale and the stakes of the characters. While Mani Ratnam’s course is expectedly praise-worthy, his screenplay (co-written with Elango Kumaravel) feels a tad bit too simplistic. B Jeyamohan’s dialogues come off as both overdramatic or simply bland; there’s hardly ever any in-between.
In different words, the best characters appearance and sound extraordinarily righteous whilst the others are caricatures of scheming and sly villains. Barring Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan’s Nandini, there’s hardly ever any scope for gray areas, giving manner to a acquainted right vs evil tale (a whole lot of which we’ve visible from the movie industries).
Performances are right however may not meet your expectations: For all his grand speeches at the Cholas at PS1’s promo events, Vikram receives rather constrained screentime as Aditha Karikalan. After a grand access withinside the establishing scene, he reappears handiest toward the second one 1/2 of. But for all of the scenes he receives, Vikram offers his dialogues with sufficient ardour and depth despite the fact that he may come off as too melodramatically loud in some scenes. We apprehend his hopeless ache via the affection that he nonetheless harbours for a person even though you can actually crave for understanding extra components of his personality.
Bengali