Vijay Ramanathan
A thrilling and gritty action-cum-political drama that immerses us into the power struggles of the Chozhas
Spoilers ahead…
Mani Ratnam’s grand epic, Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 (PS-1), is a Chozha tale of political intrigue, power struggles and wars set in old-world Thanjavur, Pazhayarai, and Ilangai where the palaces are rugged, the streets raw and the markets cluttered. These are real places where real people lived and real kings ruled. This is no historical fantasy with picture-perfect frames, and ostentatious grandeur. No sir. The people may be beautiful but the earth is dusty and red; the grit, grime and blood of war is in your face. And that makes this movie immensely believable.
The opening narration flies us back to that embattled time and place. An ailing king, his valiant children, vengeful spies and power-hungry chieftains. In this milieu we find Aditha Karikalan (Vikram) in a bloody battle with the Rashtrakutas. His thirst for war isn’t a vain power grab. He’s running away from a past sin that he desperately wants to erase from his troubled mind. But he senses a conspiracy and dispatches his trusted aide Vanthiyathevan (Karthi) with a message to be delivered to his father, King Sundara Chozhan (Prakash Raj), and his sister Kundavai (Trisha). From here, we get a rolicking action-cum-policital drama that sucks you in, grabs hold of you, and navigates you through the trials and tribulations of the Chozha clan and their associates.
One of the toughest aspects of adapting a voluminous, episodic novel to film is deciding the screenplay structure. The trick is always in choosing an approach that fits the cinematic form while staying true to the source material. In this, Ratnam and his co-writers, Elango Kumaravel and Jeyamohan, redeem themselves admirably. They stick with Kalki’s original narrative vehicle (Vanthiyathevan) but add and subtract various elements to make the story work on screen. The opening war sequence with Karikalan, for instance, is essential for the viewer to understand the broader context for this duology. In other instances, whole chapters or characters are eliminated, and scenes are adjusted to fit the format. The various narrative threads are neatly delineated and the viewer is never disoriented temporally or spatially. The semi-classical Tamil dialogues fit the scenario. The language isn’t too ornamental and none of the interactions feel overly dramatized. There are some fantastic lines that all make the world of this movie feel more real. The “Po da” that Alwarkadiyaan Nambi (Jayaram) spits out feels as natural as more elaborate lines spoken by the royals. When married with a naturalistic acting style, they immerse the viewer into the Chozha world without distractions.
The source material offers rich backstories and motivations for its characters. Ratnam and his team infuse those motivations into this movie using various cinematic devices so that (most of) the characters are not mere caricatures. When Karikalan reveals his past demons to Parthibendran during the terrific “interval block,” it is designed as a fusion of song, dialogue, soliloquy, and flashback – not exposition. We understand Arunmozhi’s righteousness not by others talking about him, but by his onscreen actions in dealing with the Buddhist monks, and his instinctive refusal to disobey his father and King. Nandini has a specific, personal reason for seeking revenge on the Chozha clan. Kundavai can’t imagine seeing her brothers and father get outsmarted by power-hungry chieftains. Vanthiyathevan is bound by his word to Karikalan. This investment in character development results in some fantastic scenes – the aforementioned interval block; the scene where Kundavai arrives unannounced at a meeting of the chieftains; the scene where a steadfast and confident Nandini encounters Ravidasan in the underground tunnel. They all make these characters feel real, and give their behavior purpose.
The characters of Poonkuzhali (Aishwarya Lekshmy) and Vanathi (Sobhita Dhulipala) feel underdeveloped. One wishes Ratnam and his co-writers had trimmed some of the scenes – perhaps the action sequences – to make more room for them. Poonkuzhali’s entry feels abrupt. It might have worked better (for this viewer) if the movie had shown how Vanthiyathevan and Senthan Amuthan meet her. One understands Poonkuzhali “emerging from the ocean” as a cinematic introductory scene for a character nicknamed Samudira Kumari, but there’s no reason that result couldn’t have been achieved differently – say be placing it along a coast while Vanthiyathevan and Senthan Amuthan look on. Poonkuzhali would have a more compelling entry into the narrative while Senthan Amuthan a more fitting exit. Similarly, Vanathi simply exists and keeps Trisha company while harboring a desire to marry Arunmozhi Varman. She need not be the naive, waif-ish character from the novel but giving her some more agency would have served the film better. These are minor complaints in an otherwise well structured and well balanced script. Indeed, Poonkuzhali and Vanathi may receive greater attention in the second part of Ponniyin Selvan but one still wishes they were better developed here.
Ratnam’s directorial skills are on fine display in PS-1. He balances the tone of the actors’ performances while maintaining a sense of reality around them. The staging is dynamic, and matches the mood and personalities of the characters. For instance, when Aditha Karikalan, after a torturous battle, is telling Parthibendran about Nandini, the camera is in frantic, restless motion, reflecting Karikalan’s state of mind. In fact, with Karikalan, the camera rarely rests. On the other hand, with Nandini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), the camera lingers more gently. We absorb her expressions and feel her thoughts. We also get to experience what those around her are experiencing – be it the attraction felt by Periya Pazhuvettarayar (Sarathkumar) or Vanthiyathevan, or the disgust felt by Chinna Pazhuvettarayar (Parthiban). Some of the most impactful scenes in this movie are when the camera slows down and we get to experience the characters and their conversations.
Ratnam uses movement to avoid repetitive scenes structures. When Nandini convinces Periya Pazhuvettarayar that Karikalan and Arunmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi) should not meet, their conversation happens as they’re removing their regal ornaments after a long day, and their helpers are scurrying about. When Nandini and Kundavai have their face-off at the stairs of the palace, Nandini is taking an arathi of Kundavai while trading honey-soaked, poisonous darts of words with her. All this gives the characters and their world more life which in turn makes for a more engaging viewing experience.
The PS-1 experience is immersive in other ways as well. Ravi Varman’s camera places us firmly in the middle of the action. We see the characters up close. We are right next to them during conversations. We are dropped right in the middle of a fight between Vanthiyathevan and Arunmozhi Varman. We experience the brilliantly filmed Deveralan Attam performance right along with the dancers. The use of establishing shots and aerial perspective shots is sparing. The dim ambient lighting in the interior shots keeps us present in those locations. Low key lighting, and carefully placed spots accentuate characters and their conversations. The scene where Nandini is talking to Vanthiyathevan in her palace and they’re debating the merits of praising one to their face versus their back is marvelously staged and shot.
A.R. Rahman’s background score is praiseworthy in its own right. It supports the narrative momentum phenomenally well. The mix of Indian, Eastern and Western sounds and modes elevates the universe of this movie. He establishes motifs and themes that accentuate the emotional core of scenes. When Nandini meets Vanthiyathevan the first time, there’s a plucky, harp-ish tune that gently floats up. When Nandini meets Kundavai there is an Indian raga-based vocal melody to highlight their rivalry. The operatic voices overlaying a crucial act of violence committed by Aditha Karikalan are gut-punching, and add the necessary oppressive weight to the cruelty of being enacted. None of the music feels alien to this world regardless of genre used. That’s the cinematic genius of Rahman. Ratnam uses Rahman’s songs from the soundtrack judiciously. Devaralan Attam is a visual masterpiece that forebodes the treacherous and violent motives of the Pandiya agents. Ratchasa Mamaney is a fun set-piece for Kundavai to first lay eyes on Vanthiyathevan, and indeed, for the viewer to first lay eyes on Kundavai. A wonderfully shot Chozha Chozha is artfully placed before the interval break to give Karikalan an opportunity to pour his heart out. This is the cinematic genius of Ratnam. Rahman and Ratnam just know what works.
The casting and the acting in this film are, by-and-large, stellar. The lead actors imbue a sense of reality to their characters. Vikram kills it as the troubled Aditha Karikalan, while Karthi’s seeming effortlessness is a credit to his skill and hard work. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha and Jayaram excel in their roles. Jayam Ravi as Arunmozhi Varman is a revelation (at least to this viewer). Sarathkumar as Periya Pazhuvettarayar and Parthiban as his brother are excellent casting choices and they both deliver. Rahman feels miscast as Madhurantaka Chozhan but perhaps his impact will be felt more in the second part of this duology. Aishwarya Lekshmy as Poonkuzhali is good but underutilized, as is Sobhita Dhulipala as Vanathi. Again, perhaps their impact will be felt more in PS-2.
The visual effects employ a good mix of practical effects and computer graphics (CG). The CG set extensions are seamless. They marry well with the real sets and live locations. The crowd expansions are handled competently, as are most of the matte background replacements. The stunt sequences are impactful without being over the top. The hair, makeup and costumes are impeccably detailed, and complement the overall tone of the movie. Sreekar Prasad’s editing is amazingly invisible – which is exactly how it should be in this type of movie.
The capstone of this epic film is, fittingly, the climax sequence. This is where Ratnam and his team are at their best. Every aspect of filmmaking gels together perfectly. The direction, the screenplay, the editing, the cinematography, the visual effects, the action choreography, the music, the acting – all work in tight concert to leave us on a thrilling high. Viewers (including this one) who have read the novel may well have expected a different climax point but Ratnam cleverly surprises us with his take. And the swimming Oomai Rani is a brilliant plot device that heightens our anticipation for an even more enthralling Ponniyin Selvan: Part 2. This viewer for one can’t wait to see it.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Madan
October 1, 2022
Excellent write up yet again. I will say that as someone who hasn’t read the book, the climax didn’t quite land for me. Important stuff happening in a dimly lit setting reminded me of Agni Natchatram. The appearance of the as-yet unintroduced mystic angel at the very end was the saver. But I would have liked a cut of PP/CP/Nandini gloating when they learn that Arulmozhi, along with Vanthiyadevan, drowned. I will call back to Macaulay Periapulla’s comment on the BR review and say that as good as the songs were, they could have been done away with (except Ponni Nadhi and Chola) and the additional time used for just a few more scenes to add meat. idk, maybe, Mani felt the film was already too plot-heavy and felt the songs would provide some relief for the audience.
These are nitpicks. I am very much satisfied with the film and looking forward already to pt-2 though I would stop short of calling this a masterpiece for the above and other reasons.
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Vijay Ramanathan
October 1, 2022
Thanks, Madan! I appreciate that you took the time to read the article and share your thoughts.
The climax worked really well for me. Sort of like the end of The Empire Strikes Back. Everything looks lost and the “villians” have the upper hand. So now how do the Chozha’s strike back? Cinematically as well, I felt execution was spot on (as I said in my review). The climax in Agni Natchathiram was a lot more artificial and distracting for me but not this one. Water simulations are hard to do well with CG, and I felt they did a good job here. The low light helps with CG as well – so in a way it was smart filmmaking also.
For me, Rakshasa Mamaney was novel flipping of the “hero-lays-eyes-on-the-heroine-and-is-instantly-smitten” song trope we’ve seen in so many movies before. And you can’t make Vanthiyathevan and Senthan Amuthan just show up at the royal yacht because it would go against the established class hierarchies, and it wouldn’t be cinematically interesting. So you need an interesting way for the characters to sneak in there that’s not repetitive. A fight-and-escape scene was already done in the Thanjavur scene. So I felt the celebration song was a good narrative and cinematic alternative.
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therag
October 1, 2022
@Madan, PP/CP/Nandhini are actually terrified that Arunmozhi sunk in the ocean. Ponniyin Selvan is incredibly well loved by the Tamil people, but more than that the Pazhuvoor crew is incredibly disliked. So, if people find out that he sunk in the ocean, that too because Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar wanted him imprisoned and brought to Thanjai, there would be riots and the Pazhuvoor crew would be destroyed.
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Madan
October 1, 2022
therag: Thanks for the context. Now it makes sense. Put together with the fact that the soldiers already got to know that the orders were to imprison PS.
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H. Prasanna
October 2, 2022
@Madan (regarding the article on your blog) and Vijay Ramanathan Really good write-ups on the movie, interesting and different perspectives. (I haven’t watched the movie or read the books.)
The difference in your perspectives i found most interesting was about the music. Madan, your angle on leitmotifs really made sense, even when applied to other movies (@Vijay please read Madan’s write up if you get a chance). Although Vijay doesn’t hit on a leitmotif, he does say that the music establishes motifs. @Madan How do you look at this perspective on the function of ARR’s music in PS 1? (As Vijay says, it does the work without the leitmotif.)
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Vijay Ramanathan
October 2, 2022
Thanks for your comments, Prasanna!
I would love to read Madan’s perspective.
@Madan or @Prasanna – can you please share the link to the article??
Vijay
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Eswar
October 2, 2022
Nice write up, Vijay. Thanks for sharing.
I am yet to catch up Madan’s post, but here is the link.
https://rothrocks.wordpress.com/
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Vijay Ramanathan
October 2, 2022
Thanks @Eswar for the link to Madan’s blog!
@Madan: It’s a good writeup. You make a good observation about the absence of leitmotifs. There are some themes and motifs in this soundtrack but they don’t emerge to the rank of a leitmotif. But as you said the form of this movie doesn’t demand it. I didn’t find that to be much of an issue.
Thanks for putting your thoughts out there. I’ve bookmarked your blog 🙂
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Madan
October 2, 2022
Thanks Vijay, H Prasanna.
Re leitmotifs, yes, I would agree that the film as it is made does not need leitmotifs. But my argument is to look into why it does not need leitmotifs and what that says about the approach used and its possible weaknesses.
I cannot fully do justice to this question without reading the book. But as H Prasanna says, leitmotifs are found in all sorts of films, at least the ones that do have a musical score (Network, for instance, had no real score so to speak and was the better for it). If you take the Harry Potter movies which in a certain sense resembles the structure of PS (a mission, an endgame with numerous obstacles and characters en route such that Harry doesn’t know who his friends and enemies really are other than Ron and Hermione), they too have the legendary John Williams leitmotif that everyone has heard of. I am only focusing on plot structure here; of course HP is overall a different animal literally with all sorts of animals that cannot exist in reality, unlike PS.
And as I have hinted with my barb at Hanz Zimmer (particularly TDKR which was IMO a bad influence on background scores), leitmotifs as such are going out of favour. To me, that indicates a shift from making a movie around an overarching theme that unites the characters and coheres the events and instead shooting the events themselves as is, either in sequence or by scrambling them.
Mani’s approach in PS-1 comes across as a sophisticated version of this event-broadcast approach. Sophisticated because there are interesting interludes that hark back to the Mani we know and these interludes add dimensions to the characters and humanize them in ways you may not find in, er, the usual suspects of today’s cinema. These dimensions also, to my mind, more than compensate for the lack of goosebump inducing action sequences or brutal violence. But they still leave the question open as to whether it is a bit of a missed opportunity that we don’t get to know what specifically Mani thinks about PS-1 or its key characters.
I reiterate that I am handicapped by having not read the book and am inferring this from the way the film is narrated. But people who have read the book and watched it can please chime in with what takeaways in terms of human issues has Mani derived from PS-1 to distinguish the movie from the book (as opposed to what events he left out, as it is self evident that he would have had to omit a lot to condense a 5 volume novel into two movies). It may fill in the gap for something that I may be completely missing here.
It is also less a criticism of Mani himself because I believe this is where he would have gone had he got to make the movie 15-20 years back. It’s more a critique of the current state of big budget cinema and the noisy social media discourse which constrains a creative person’s choices. So IF he has restricted himself to a condensed visual narration of the book, I fully understand why he would do that. But if there was one director in Tamil who could have taken on this subject and derived these interesting take-aways, it was him so in that sense, it feels (slightly) like an opportunity missed.
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H. Prasanna
October 2, 2022
Thanks, Madan. Great point about the creative independence vs market demand in writing a movie. Yes, TDKR and TDK is heard everywhere, the latest being Vikram. And it is not going away soon. To add your point, we live where every blockbuster has to be musically well endowed. But we hardly see filmmakers and musicians make a sound for the entire movie.
In that way, the closest to this movie, which i have not seen, is Bhramastra (which had a consistent overall sound quality if not a sound). It had an overarching theme, belief in magical love. (I thought they faltered with the magical world itself, but theme was there. And the way camerawork for PS is described by many is very similar to how I experienced Bhramastra’s camera. Fortunately, I don’t understand Hindi that well, so I didn’t mind the dialogues.)
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Madan
October 2, 2022
I haven’t seen Brahmastra. Going by the criticism, it seemed to have almost the opposite problem – the dialogues being so watered down people felt talked down to, where they were heavy in PS-1.
This difference between themed filmmaking and event making can be seen even by comparing TDK v/s TDKR and it’s the main reason TDKR never rose up to the level of TDK to me and even felt tedious at times to watch for me. TDK was centred around Joker’s nihilistic take on society – what’s the point of trying to be a good man in a bad world, in essence and Two-Face crosses over, echoing Joker’s point. By doing this, Nolan made the Batman v/s Joker contest powerful at levels not seen in prior Batman films (because Batman strives to uphold good come what may) and this is coming from a Burton-Batman fan. OTOH Bane was monotonous, boring and stereotypical as a villain and with Batman also being caught in a weary moment like Batman Returns (and without the relief that DeVito, Walken and Pfeiffer brought to the table there), it felt like, well if you can’t be arsed to, why should I. It did redeem itself with the backstory and stuff but it was a far cry from the taut, mean machine that Nolan had built on TDK.
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Vijay Ramanathan
October 2, 2022
@Madan: Thank you for sharing your perspective. Very interesting. You make some very good points about the shift in style of cinematic storytelling.
Without commenting on the broader trends, my view on PS-1 is as follows:
Mani Ratnam isn’t trying to make a movie around a “hero’s journey” arc – for a single hero or even a bunch of them running in parallel threads. I think most of us will agree with that. There is no singular outcome to unify these characters even though it may seem as such on the surface. Nor is Ratnam trying to make an adaptation with a slice-in-time approach, or a temporally shifted retelling. Could he have tried to make that kind of a film? Like say what he did with Thalapathi, or Iruvar, or even Ravanan? Sure. And could those have been great movies? Perhaps. In fact, those might have been safer choices. But then that’s not his intent here. Here, the human drama he’s trying to extract is one of conflicted individuals each with their own sense of reality and, at times, divergent perceptions of right and wrong – all while staying true to a historical reality and the reality of the novel. Each character’s vantage point grants them a unique and subtly different view of what’s unfolding, and what success looks like. Even the three Chozha siblings aren’t on the same page. They’re all trying to figure it out as they go – much like a serialized novel 🙂 And that chaotic and scrambled set of motivations is reflected in the screenplay’s structure. It feels scattershot because that’s what is happening. Is that a bad thing or a timid choice by Ratnam? Not in my opinion. And I don’t think his choice is governed solely by the business and market dynamics – but even if it is, I don’t see a problem there. Mainstream filmmakers are constantly trying to balance the economic and the artistic sides of cinema all over the world. That’s just how cinema evolves.
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Madan
October 2, 2022
Indeed, I am not looking for hero or villain arcs per se but perhaps a deeper look into their motivations, which might tie the threads together. It’s not that the present film feels as if ‘untied’ but it has a strong sense of mission/momentum (which I discussed in my blog) to keep it going. Which…doesn’t exactly feel breathless to me but like I am watching a bit of a procession. An entertaining and engaging procession which has the entire kaleidoscope of emotions too, but where the forward propulsion doesn’t give me time to really bite into these emotions (with the exception of the Nandini-Karikalan subplot). It’s not my film to make anyway (nor should I be entrusted with a movie camera!) but I would have, along the lines of the Nandini-Karikalan subplot, liked to see more of:
What’s Peria Pazhuvettraiyar’s angle here? If he does make Uttama the next Chola, what’s he gonna get?
More about the Pandyas so we get why they want Karikalan dead. WE know as Tamilians about the Pandya-Chola rivalry but in a movie, I want the feud to be established a little more.
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therag
October 2, 2022
@Madan, about Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar’s angle, it is mentioned in passing in the movie so it is very easy to miss. This is covered better in the novel.
Madhuranthakan (the guy the Pazhuvoor crew want crowned) is the Mappillai of Chinna Pazhuvettaraiyar. He is not a trained warrior or administrator and is portrayed as being incapable of leading an empire on his own. So if elected king, the Pazhuvoor crew would be running the show.
But the real reason Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar does all this is simply Nandhini. He’s head-over-heels and she has him under her thumb.
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Madan
October 2, 2022
“But the real reason Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar does all this is simply Nandhini. He’s head-over-heels and she has him under her thumb.” – So…this I didn’t get at all. I mean, I got the part that he is totally besotted with her and she uses this to manipulate him. BUT the fact that she is instigating him wasn’t shown. MAYBE Mani wants to keep it as suspense. But the fact that PP thinks that he can take advantage of Maduranthakan and control him and that’s why he wants to push him as king didn’t come out. I could infer it but I would have liked that to have been shown just to reveal the extent of PP’s ambitions.
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pirhaksar
October 2, 2022
@ Vijay, great read and found myself nodding to almost everything you say here!
I liked the film overall. Certainly meets my expectations and I did not read the book. I can see why non-tamil audiences would not be invested in this. My dad for example not an avid movie goer but who loved BB and RRR, has been hearing/reading poor reviews (this is in AP/Telugu) and that it is not Pan India and does not match upto BB standards – this is the unfortunate reality of the post SSR world. Anyhow, I told him to ignore and watch it as a palace drama w/o gimmicks. Too many similar themed films that are grander, larger in scale films recently. But I am glad MR made it this way, the staging, writing and direction was super tight and realistic as it could be.
Vikram was magestic – the scene where he looks back at what transpired with Nandini was brilliantly executed. The trance like sequence with the chola chola song in the backdrop and Vikram brings out the pain, anguish and anger in that scene – pretty much explains why he is more Viking-savage like than Royal Crown Prince like and why the younger PS was more admired and loved. The other scene I really enjoyed was when the Princess casually breaks in and destroys the cabal…simple yet so effective (Trisha surprised me with her performance). The 1-1 combat between PS and VV was very well done.
The somewhat low points were movie drags a bit and if you factor in the viral generation and the attention deficit, few scenes meant for lighter moments/comedy could have been cut. I thought the BGM was well done with some great highs, couple of wonderful songs which were not in the album and some middling ones which I thought did not quite fit or were too loud. The climax was not particularly great as were the war sequences, could have been designed better as set pieces.
@Madan – read your review and bookmarked the page, thanks for the wonderful write up as well. I did not think this particular film needed a leitmotiff there are too many characters with different interplays that it could have backfired. I agree that the songs could have been cut. I could be in the minority but the Devaral Attam song sequence was simply wow – the visuals and the song combined to deliver an almost hypnotic effect for me. I might go for a second viewing today just for that alone.
Few questions (possible spoilers): Is the Ooamai Rani character part of the book? The reveal of the face was interesting but wonder how that character is related to overall set of characters, left me confused.
Nandini’s motive is not clear to me – I thought she was scheming to gain vengeance first but then the shot where she seemingly covets for the throne was interesting. I was not sure of her relationship with Veerapandiyan even though Adita speaks about it.
The Lankan king – what language is he speaking, the setting did not seem Lankan to me more Thai or Cambodian
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Madan
October 2, 2022
pirhaskar: Not gonna spoil but, yes, Oomai Rani is in the book and her role will become much clearer in PS-2 or so I presume. And Nandini wants vengeance AND covets the Chola throne. Vengeance for the killing of Veerapandian and the throne because she is that ambitious. And lastly, the Sri Lankan ruler SEEMS to be speaking Sinhalese but your guess is as good as mine. You are correct to say the settings look like Thailand because the ‘Lankan’ portions were indeed shot in Thailand. Maybe Mani didn’t want to take the risk of assembling a whole Tamil crew in Sri Lanka with the Rajapaksas in charge! There may also have been greater restrictions post-pandemic in SL than in Thailand. I do know that they were in deep trouble for at least a year before they formally went belly-up.
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Vijay Ramanathan
October 2, 2022
@pirhaksar: Thank you for reading, and sharing your thoughts. I appreciate it!
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