Finally the day has come & the much awaited Tamil movie of the year or rather one that has been waited for past few decades is beamed on screens across the globe. It is none other than Mani Ratnam's magnum opus "Ponniyin Selvan Part 1", a project that many illustrious individuals like MGR & Kamal Haasan wanted to immortalize on celluloid but couldn't materialize. The trailer & promotions were well organized and the makers made sure that the release happened just as when the hype was peaking. It's been ages since I had watched a movie FDFS in my hometown & I couldn't have chosen a better one as the epic period drama was completely worth it with its stellar performances and premier technical quality.
Based on Kalki Krishnamurthy' 1955 novel "Ponniyin Selvan", the movie talks about the power struggle in the Chola Empire when the time for succession draws near. Sundara Chola's (Prakash Raj) health was on the decline while both his sons, the crown prince Aditha Karikalan (Vikram) & Arulmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi) were on different conquest campaigns. Within the palace, a conspiracy spearheaded by the finance minister Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar (Sarath Kumar) was set in motion to usurp the throne. However, Aditha had a sense of this danger & entrusted his trusted lieutenant, Vanthiyathevan (Karthi) to alert his father and sister, Kundavai (Trisha) to be on their guard. The journey of Vanthiyathevan through this labyrinth of greed, valour, honesty & treachery forms the basis of the plot where the balance of power keeps shifting at various junctures.
Well before I speak about anyone else, I believe it is imperative that Subaskaran of Lyca Productions is appreciated first since if it wasn't for his collaboration with Madras Talkies, this project would have still remained a dream. What do I say about Mani Ratnam??? He was just brilliant since it is no mean task to emerge with flying colours especially when the expectations from the project was just insane. Along with Elango Kumaravel, he has come up with a compelling screenplay that keeps the audience engrossed. The technical aspects were just wow like Thotta Tharani's exquisite production designs, costume department, Ravi Varman's excellent frames & AR Rahman's fantastic music which elevates the impact of many sequences. This is definitely his best work in the past decade and the choreography was apt in most tracks except for 'Chola Chola' which felt way too filmy.
The events unfolds at a fast pace which is understandable after all he has to include the contents of five novels into two movies. But that turns out to be a downer for those who haven't read the novels like me. This is because at times we fail to understand the importance of certain characters to the main plot like Poongzhali (Aishwarya Lekshmi) as she appeared abruptly (though I was told later on that she is an important character in the novel), Vaanathi (Sobitha Dhulipala) etc. Another difficulty that many would face is the Tamil dialect used here which is quite different to what we are accustomed to. So if there are no English subtitles or if it is not the Malayalam version, then we will have some difficulty in comprehension (a similar experience that I recollect was when I watched "Iruvar"). However, to be frank it didn't significantly affect my viewing experience.
How does one even talk about performances, coz each one of them have given excellent performances in the screen space allotted to them. First & foremost, hats off to Mani for the choice of artists for each role since almost all of them were spot on except Sara Arjun as young Nandini. Karthi was brilliant as the sweet talking street smart flirtatious Vanthiythevan while Aishwarya Rai as Nandini was excellent as the scheming ethereal beauty who spoke volumes with her eyes and I would certainly rate it as her career best. Vikram had a limited screen time but his portrayal of Karikalan who is at unrest coz of the inner turmoil and anguish showcased his skills. Trisha's screen presence & expressions exuded confidence & royalty while Jayam Ravi (felt he was given an extremely cold intro) slowly came into his own towards the end. As for the rest, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Jayaram, Parthiban etc. have all done justice to their roles.
Verdict: Well it is a must watch & that too, in theatres coz the laptop screen is surely not going to give you the visual splendour. However, as I mentioned earlier prior to watching it make sure you atleast have a basic idea about the novel & watch it in theatres with English subtitles or where the Malayalam version is shown. In short, don't miss it!!!
Rating: 3.5/5
Regards...Ben
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