It's no small achievement to condense a multi-volume, intricate work into a two-part film. It requires guts. a great deal of it. Mani Ratnam, if any director, possesses the quality in the necessary degree. One example of a historical epic with a broad breadth and diversified visual scope is Ponniyin Selvan - Part 1.
The expansive, magnificently staged movie is an ambitious, nearly faultless adaptation of a beloved book that exemplifies why it has been a movie project so intimidating that people like M.G. Ramachandran and Kamalahasan could only make fruitless attempts at putting it together.
Naturally, Ratnam, his cast, and crew must meet extremely challenging technical and creative requirements for the story. They demonstrate that they are up to the challenging challenge of achieving the scope, tempo, and stylistic flourishes that the story necessitates and that are made possible by the image-making technology at hand.
That in no way implies that the seasoned director gives himself completely over to the attraction and influence of computer-generated visuals. To heavily rely on the glitz and glamour of the kind of unrestrained visual effects that have propelled recent Indian blockbusters like Baahubali, RRR, and KGF would be a mistake for Ratnam, who is a skilled craftsman and storyteller.
Ratnam refrains from using sensory or visceral overdrive, instead relying on a sharp narrative written by him, B. Jeyamohan, and Elango Kumaravel, as well as a cast of accomplished performers. PS-1 is as much a visual pleasure as it is for the mind. In order to capture the vast scope of Kalki Krishnamurthy's legendary 1955 novel tracing the age of the Cholas, he shuns VFX excesses and grounds the historical fiction in a genuine area.
It has taken six and a half decades for the story to make it to the big screen. The wait was worthwhile. Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam dubs of the Tamil-language PS-1 are currently playing in theatres all over the country.
Because several three-hour movies must be condensed into the 167-minute Ponniyin Selvan - Part 1, some portions feel a little hurried. This is due to the introduction of a wide range of characters and the exposition of historically complex data. The plot has just enough breathing area so that it doesn't occasionally droop over into incomprehensibility, thanks to editor A. Sreekar Prasad, whose frequently demonstrated skills are put to the most difficult test.
After the prelude is over and all of the main characters are in position, PS-1 begins to pick up steam. It offers an incredibly smooth journey through a thrilling succession of experiences - intense battles, palace intrigue, lost love, defeated troops seeking vengeance, brave resistance - that capture the pinnacles of Chola history in a way that is both tactile and texturally absorbing.
Aside from the consistently impressive performances by a cast led by Vikram and brilliantly supported by Karthi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, and Trisha, among others, the most notable features of PS-1 are the production design by Thotta Tharini and the carefully chosen locations that were brilliantly photographed by cinematographer Ravi Varman. The action takes place in breathtaking surroundings that aren't fantastic in the manner that the settings of historical epics of this kind typically tend to be.
In a similar vein, the dramatis personae of the movie, including the ailing Emperor Sundar Chola (Prakash Raj), his three children, Crown Prince Aditha Karikalan (Vikram), his younger brother Arulmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi, who makes a cameo appearance late in the movie as the titular character), and sister Kundhavai (Trisha), as well as their allies and enemies both inside and outside the kingdom,
Even though they struggle with huge obstacles, they deal with genuine emotions. The characters, whether they are members of the Chola royal family or ordinary men, sound plausible even when speaking aloud and transition smoothly from profound insight to lighthearted conversation.
The first episode of the action-packed drama comes to a conclusion at a scene that leaves many things unanswered and refers to what may constitute the bulk of Ponniyin Selvan - Part 2, which is slated for publication in 2023. The film inevitably packs too much into too little time but it never fails to look and sound - A.R. Rahman's songs and background score constitute the backbone of the sound design - like a meticulously conceived and executed work of cinema.
