Awesome movie with great story,based on chola empire! Saw the movie on IMAX screen.Mani Ratnam is probably the best director from India.This movie solidified that claim. This period novel has 100s of characters,factual and fictional,rich and complex with twists and turns,written in 5 volumes,comprising 1000s of pages. Doing justice to such a well read,most popular novel is impossible! Peter Jackson needed 6 movies to tell the story of Middle Earth, Hobbit and LOTR. Here Mani Ratnam is attempting to do it in two. Though the odds were against him,I will happily proclaim that the wizard has pulled it off gloriously!
First let's thank kalki for such a wonderful novel that tells the story of India's greatest chola empire!
Secondly,ARR's music takes us on wonderful journey along ponni Nadhi, Tanjavur, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ball,underpinning myriad of emotions from love, courage,victory to heartbreak! It was soulful, exhilarating, teasing, haunting, triumphant, melancholic and quite simply blissful!
All actors were amazing 😍 you forget them as actors, they truly became the characters!
Vikram, Aditya Karikalan -He once again proved that he is one of the top actors from India! He is our Russe! Crow in this movie! As much as he roared in the battlefield,butchered his enemies,scored victories,partied hard,he also carried the burden of failed love! He was simply superb in the interval block!
Karthi, Vandhya Devan - Lifeline of the movie! Perfect portrayal of courage, loyalty, charm, wit and romance. He is awesomely chivalrous and boisterous! His smile is bewitching and infectious!
Jayam Ravi, Arul Mozhi Varman - The novel and the movie is named after his character. He is like his older brother Aditya Karikalan, a Prince. He is more regal, patient, majestic and as brave as his brother.
Aishwarya Rai Bachan, Nandini - She is a beauty with brain just like Kundhavai (Trisha), the princess. Aishwarya looked gorgeous! Her past life made her who she is, tragic but resolute. A woman with a mission! She acted brilliantly! Her encounters with Kundhavai and Karikalan are quite a treat to watch!
Trisha, Princess Kundhavai - If you ever want a princess in your movie, Trisha it is! She looked regal, majestic, intelligent, clever, pleasingly bold and valiant! The interplay between her and Karthi was delightful! Similarly encounter between her and Nandini was full of wit and sarcasm! Trisha is born to play this role! Case closed!
All the others have also given their best performances. The visuals, locations, costume, VFX, settings are all top notch! The movie was so engaging. Rarely any dull moments! Kudos to Mani for tight screenplay! The lyrics of the songs captured the moments so vividly and accurately! The choreography was in perfect harmony with the period! Editing is crisp! Roman Empire was the subject of many great Hollywood movies. Let Ponniyin Selvan be the first movie that celebrates Cholas, India’s greatest empire!
Overall, this movie is an epic, colossal, triumphant! Nine out of Ten! We can now confidently say that Indian movies have arrived!
First and foremost, Ponniyin Selvan should not be compared with fantasy period films that glorify war sequences with larger-than-life treatment. PS1 is a plot-driven film and it will unravel several layers of storylines adapted from the novel. Mani Ratnam fulfilled the dream with this iconic magnum opus project. It's a dream come moment for the entire Tamil film industry to experience this epic novel on the big screen.The screenplay is written by Mani Ratnam along with writer Jayamohan and Elango Kumaravel. The dialects in PS1 are not exactly ancient Tamil nor the modern version. The dialogue writer establishes the right mix of ancient Tamil language and colloquial versions for the audience to follow the conversations effortlessly. The first 30 mins of the film is significant for the audience who never read the book because it provides a lot of information to digest, and inferences to follow the key characters in the plot and set the stage to get into the Worlds of Chola Era. Hats off to Mani Ratnam for his meritorious efforts in the recreation of Tamil history. As a director, he stands tall and delivers at various stages of the film. Be it the writings for character arcs, be it the cast selection, be it the execution behind the camera everything was top-notch and brilliantly coined to give an all-new experience of watching a Tamil period drama.
Karthi is the show stealer in the first half and he is the best fit to play the role of Vandhiyathevan who is cheeky, flirty but heroic. Some of his pick-up lines with Kundhavi and Nandhini are admirable. Jayam ravi plays the role of Arul Mozhi Varman. His character as a young prince is very powerful. His body language, dialogue delivery, and gestures perfectly suit the role. His encounter with Karthi in the second half is intriguing and he scores maximum for stunts and action sequences.Vikram plays the role of Adhitha Karikalan who carries bitter love life, vengeance, and emptiness with tons of emotional baggage and he beautifully portrays it on screen with his acting ability.
