Ponniyin selvan – review

“Did you know WHO has mentioned about Chola era spreading!! “

“Moodevi…adhu cholera spreading nu concern post. WHO edhukuda Ponniyin selvan padatha pathi pesaporaanga!!”

Ever since that movie was in the making, Ponniyin selvan has been the talk of the town. Adhukaga Cholera va chola era nu padikara alavuku makkal aagirupangannu I didn’t realize!! The book being the boon of Book fairs and possibly the one sure shot super hit sale item on every book fair ever since such fairs have been in existence, has vertically split the movie watching group into those who had read the book and those who hadn’t. Obviously, when a book, that too as famous as Kalki’s creation, is being made into a movie, there would be lot of criticism on whether the movie adaption has justified the written version. Harry Potter had its moments and personally I consider Lord of the Rings as the best movie ever, adapted from a book. Ponniyin selvan as a book itself is quite voluminous running into 5 parts. The essence of the book, the reason for its longevity and being in limelight for more than 5 decades has been its language, the thriller element set in an era and about a dynasty that is embedded in the DNA of locals, the way in which each character is described and conceived and finds a place in overall story line and the open ended finish that still has tongues wagging around the several unanswered questions. It is virtually impossible to convert all of them on screen unless it is made as a web series on the scale of Game of Thrones. In fact, given the rumour that the budget for the movie was about 500 crores, they might’ve considered making it for OTT as a web series to cater to the crowd who had read the book. But considering the way it has been presented on screen in its movie version, some may feel glad that such a travesty has been averted. 

For a book of scale and size of Ponniyin Selvan, with almost a dozen character hogging every scene or conversation, each of them having their own back story and are strong enough to have their own story universe, casting is the major and most important challenge. Be it Vandhiya devan, Aazhvarkadiyan, poonguzhali, Paruvettazhayar brothers, Nandhini, Kundhavai, Vanadhi or even the aabathudhavigal for that matter, every character is important in taking the story forward and are all important. Karikalan has a mystique of his own and true to his name his personality has a darkness about it. The way Kalki would’ve explained each character should’ve been a ready reckoner or a quick reference guide in picking the casting. To some extent Mani Ratnam, has managed with whomever is available in the market at present. Had this movie been made initially as planned by MGR, that would’ve been a mouth-watering casting and probably that movie would still be in theaters!!! Mani Ratnam has killed the essence of the movie mainly the timing and the era in which it has been set by making it more “yedhaartham” (realistic crap). While everyone was expecting to be awestruck at the grandeur at the supposedly 500-crore budgeted movie, all they got was a Doordarshan era documentary kind of effects. Ponniyin Selvan is grandeur written all over the 5 parts of it. Toning it down in the name of cost cutting is akin to having a single pony race in Ben-Hur climax. You either lavish on it or don’t do it at all!! Coming back to casting, even though he has managed to balance out the “tamil” sensibilities in picking a cast that is mostly from Southern India, it is possibly the most aged cast ever to have geared up to represent characters who were probably couple of decades younger as per the story!!  Like Dream 11 cricket team, my choice (if wishes were horses..right?) would be Dulqur salman for Vandhiya devan, Mamooty for Periya pazhuvetaraiyar, Mohan lal for his younger brother, Sai Pallavi for Kundhavai , Deepika Padukone for Nandhini, Surya for Arulmozhi varman, Rashmika for Poonguzhali so on and so forth. Enna..budget for the cast itself would’ve been 500 crores (hehe).

The best part about the movie is the screenplay adaptation, which is almost perfect, considering that the writer has already been part of the project to make the novel into an hour-long theater presentation, it has really helped in ensuring the key portions are highlighted and in choosing the right portions to ignore to a major extent. Instead of Mani Ratnam had Rajamouli helmed this movie, it might’ve possibly taken ten years more to have seen the first part itself but might’ve worth the wait when it came to picturing the war scenes and the war machinery. Songs and music – AR Rahman have long outlived his sell by date. GV Prakash would’ve been a much better bet considering the efforts he took for a similar movie like “Aayirathil Oruvan”!! Overall the movie feels like going to a 5 star hotel expecting great ambience and quality service only to end up regretting not visiting the local Andhra mess for a hearty and tasty meal!!

Indha latchanathula..Raja Rajan Hindu va ilia…Karikalana konnathu brahmins a ilia…Saivam/vainavam hindula varuma varatha nu..ennelam controversy panna mudiyumo all are happening. Adei appracentis…my mom is from Chola nadu, dad Pandiya nadu, I was born in Pallava nadu and my kid is a veera maratha. Adhunala naangalam Indians illa nu aaiduma. Ennamo pongaya!!