Finally we saw Ponniyin Selvan! I must say it definitely lived upto the expectations built up by the positive reviews and ratnam fans, and I cant wait for the next part.
Of all the great things in the movie the one that most impressed me was Karthi. He seems to naturally bring that perfect blend of humbleness, mischievousness, and macho-ism. In scenes with Nandhini devi and Kundavai, he somehow manages to hold his own even while showing how floored he is by their looks, stature, etc. And that holds true even in scenes with Aditha and Arulmozhi varman. He comes across as a valued warrior and a good friend even though he is doing their bidding. While every scene he was in was amazing, my favorite was his reaction to Poonguzhali when she asks him to give a message to Arulmozhi varman.
Almost every actor fit the character perfectly……and I say almost because I didnt like Prakash Raj (esp after CCV) and I don’t understand what was Prabhu doing in this movie! In fact it took me a few mins to realise it was Prabhu. And after a few lame dialogues he vanished! Here is yet another role for Prakash Raj - a man who has seen better days, helpless in his current condition, commanding a certain respect from people around him due to his past glory even though they are backstabbing him, waiting for his sons to come home and take charge. Sounds familiar?! I think anyone could have fit that role however the key difference is he was called ‘Sundara’ chozar for a reason! So why Prakashraj?!
Vikram was unbelievable! In the book, his history with Nandhini is said in bits and pieces and we need to piece it together. However, the movie brings it all out in one-rush and it doesn't even seem to be a secret or a discreet affair. While it might otherwise take a lot of songs and dialogues and context-setting to explain the history between them, his amazing acting takes care of all that! He is at his best when playing the role of a passionate person! Again, even when playing the role of Kundadvai’s brother, there was this subtle sibling equation between him and Kundavai when they meet. That scene was also wonderfully done.
Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan gave a lot of respect and importance to the female characters. Every one of them played a very significant role. Trisha, Aishwarya and Lekshmi deliver this really well.
Personally, my expectations from the movie were very low. I find ManiRatnam’s recent movies a little annoying. There is a lot of posturing, superfluous dialogues, forced acting. So I was actually dreading this movie. I thought - omg he is going to ruin it! But in reality, there was so much depth to the movie and a certain regard and respect to the original story. In many scenes the dialogues were so witty! Not the typical smart-ass dialogues we have been seeing of late. After seeing Baradwaj Rangan’s review I was convinced the movie has to be good - esp because he kinda voiced what I have always felt but couldnt articulate about CCV.
I wonder i Maniratnam tried for a musical kinda of movie with so many songs interspersed into the story. For once, I found the songs actually annoying! Somehow they just slowed down the pace of the story and were an unnecessary distraction. Sorry ARR, somehow this time the songs just didn’t work.
While most mythological/historical movies show actors with an overwhelming amount of jewelry and shiny clothes, in this it somehow wasnt so overwhelming. Despite the rich silk clothes and loads of jewelry, there was something radiant and beautiful, esp about Trisha and Aishwarya that had nothing to do with the clothes and accessories. And it was very very refreshing to see royalty wearing rich kanjeevaram silk. Except for very few scenes, almost all the sarees were rich kanjeevaram silks with beautiful color and border. Most historical/mythological movies resort to some weird georgette or some shiny clothes with embroidery and glittery stuff. But the sarees here were so classic - so rich and beautiful (sorry cant help repeating myself). However, what is with Aishwarya’s weird cheeks? Anyone else noticed?! One quick observation on accessories: Unlike the huge nose rings actors wear in such movies, these two wore very subtle and lovely nose rings.
I unfortunately dont recall much of the story from the book - I read it 11yrs back while on maternity leave - in-between diaper change and feeding my babies :) I saw a drama version few years back, but couldn’t connect to most of the scenes. I definitely don’t recall reading lengthy fight scenes - neither the Rashtrakuta war nor the ones in Lanka. So I am getting back to the book and plan to watch the movie again to see just how much of a creative liberty has Maniratnam taken.
Also, I think the movie must seem very disjointed and difficult to follow for those who haven’t read the book. I think it is too complicated to fit 2.5volumes of a book into a 3hrs movie. Since I had read the book and my kids had read the ACK version we could follow the story and appreciate every scene. So to anyone who says Maniratnam should send a book to help them follow the movie - well, it is a movie based on a book! So it goes without saying that a lot of details are bound to be missing if you haven’t read the original. And the beauty of watching a movie made from a book is to keep connecting it to the original and find out what is missing, what is handled smartly, what is handled even better than the book! So go read the book! And see it all over again….which is what I am going to do :)
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