Ponniyin Selvan(PS) 1 Movie Review

Star filmmaker Mani Ratnam had been trying to make the film Ponniyin Selvan for more than two decades. Finally, he was able to do it and release it this year. With a huge and popular cast of stars, Mani Ratnam made the film in two parts. The film is based on the book Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki Krishnamurthy. The first part of Ponniyin Selvan was released yesterday. Here is the review.

What is it about?

Adithya Karikaalan (Vikram), Arunkanimozhi alias Ponniyin Selvan (Jayam Ravi), and Kundhuvai (Trisha) are the heirs of Emperor Sundara Chola (Prakash Raj) of the Chola kingdom. As plans are underway to make Adithya Karikalan king of the kingdom due to Sundara Chola being ill, internal conspiracies and ploys from the Pandian rebels take the front seat to stop him. Nandhini (Aishwarya Rai), the wife of treasurer Pedda Palivettarayudu (Sarath Kumar) plays a crucial role in domestic politics, while Kundhuvai is smart enough to block her. How does Adhithya Karikalan’s right-hand Vallavaraya Vandiyadevudu (Karthi) help the royal brothers and how does politics lead to the unexpected? It’s all about PS 1.

Performances

Ponniyin Selvan has many popular stars. Vikram appears in one of the most important roles, Adithya Karikaalan. Live in the role of the Chola prince. He appears in key scenes and plays his part very well.

Karthi takes up the majority of PS 1 and did exceptionally well in the role she was given. Karthi’s character has a bit of playfulness and wit, which she carried throughout the film. Aishwarya Rai and Trisha look stunning in their royal outfits. Their performances and confrontational episodes are good to watch. Aishwarya Rai’s character has layers to herself and she handled them with ease.

Jayam Ravi, Sarath Kumar, Parthiban, Prakash Raj, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Vikram Prabhu, Prabhu, and others appear in short roles and they did well.

Technicalities

PS 1 has a great enough story to make a gripping movie. It has interesting twists and political tactics, but most of them seem ordinary due to the flat narrative. The script could have been better.

There are some good visuals, but the film overall isn’t a visual marvel. The war sequences are typical and there is no wow factor to that either.

The graphics work could have been better and could have made it more attractive and grand. The background music is good. The Ponge Nadhi song is also good, but there is some instability during the songs.

Thumbs up

Karthi, Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, and Trisha

History

background music

Thumbs down

flat narration

no maximums

Visual effects

Analysis

Ponniyin Selvan is the story of the Chola kingdom that shows the conspiracies and malicious policies that happened for the throne, about 1000 years ago. The story is very solid and has the right conflicts to make it more interesting.

First things first, one must have a basic idea of ​​who is who in the film. The voiceover, at first, gives a little insight, but the names and places that all native Tamil names have made it difficult for the inexperienced to connect the dots. But being a political drama, Ponniyin Selvan should pack an interesting narrative with that much-needed fervor. The director tells the story here, but the mediocre script makes it more than difficult to establish the emotional connection between the characters.

With many characters and each one in different places, the story had to revolve around showing the cunning stratagems in the respective episodes as well. The subplots in some of the Arulmozhi-related episodes in Lanka could have been reduced to simpler, shorter scenes. Already with the nondescript narration, the prolonged scenes take us further away from the real plot.

The twists in the story could be more intense. Most of them were only shown while the characters are talking about it, without the “highs” or elevations that might have had any impact. The PS 1 movie many times reminds us of Game Of Thrones, which also revolves around many places, kingdoms, and submerged politics.

The audience wouldn’t expect Vallavaraya Vandiyadevudu (Karthi) to take the front seat and most of the story unfolds from her point of view in the first half. Nandhini’s (Aishwarya Rai) multifaceted character arouses curiosity and also hints that there is more mystery to him. Kundhuvai’s character (Trisha) is also powerful with interesting instincts, which again become ordinary. With so many wonderful actors, PS 1 had a chance to get two or three main characters properly connected to the audience, which didn’t happen due to only the base story being given prominence.

Overall, PS 1 has some very strong content and a talented all-star cast, but the dull narrative and lack of emotional connection to the characters don’t make it a phenomenal watch. From names to places, from the story to the nativity, PS 1 has a better chance of connecting with the Tamil audience than the Telugu audience. Having seen the movies of great scale and grandeur, such as RRR and Baahubali, Ponniyin Selvan may seem normal to the Telugu audience. PS 1 releases are huge all over the world and you have to see how the movie fares at the box office.

Rating: 2.5/5