Movie: Ponniyin Selvan: part 1
Form: Chiyaan Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha Krishnan
Director: Mani Ratnam
Where to watch: In theaters
Review by: Sarvepalli Bhavana
The highly anticipated Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 hit the big screens today. The film stars Chiyaan Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Trisha Krishnan in the lead roles. It is based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s 1955 novel Ponniyin Selvan and tells the story of the Cholas. PS1 is one of the highly anticipated movies and moviegoers have been looking forward to it. So, is the wait worth it? Watch our movie review of Ponniyin Selvan below…
What is it about?
Aditya Karikalan (Vikram), the chief man of the Chola dynasty, is in the war zone to defeat his opponents and win the dynasty. Vallavaraaya Vandeduvdu (Karthi) is sent to Thanjavur with a message to Sundara Chola (Prakash Raj) and Kundavai (Trisha). Vallavaraya is on a mission to find out what is happening against the Cholas.
Nandini (Aishwarya Rai), the Pazhuvoor queen and wife of Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar and Aditya Karikalan’s love interest, has a master plan and a lot of things going on in her head.
What is the plan and what do they all have against the Cholas, that has to be sorted out by Vallavaraya. Now it’s time for Aditya Karikalan and Arunmozhli (Jayam Ravi) to save their dynasty. Basically, Ponniyin Selvan is a five-part historical fiction series based on the life of Arulmozhi Varman, who later became the great Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I. This is a tale of the power struggle between the three popular southern kingdoms – Cholar, Cheran, and Pandiyans – peppered with humor, story, and story.
What’s hot?
Understanding Ponniyin Selvan is not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s too big to tell in three hours and that’s why there’s a part two. The performances by lead actors Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Trisha, Aishwarya Rai and Karthi are fantastic. In fact, Karthi is the real hero of the movie. He did a great job.
All these actors are experienced and professionals. So you really don’t have to talk about how they acted. Obviously they are great. Everyone was in the skin of his role. Sarathakumar, Parthiban, Prakash Raj, Jayaram, Nassar and Rehman played a number of important roles.
The production qualities are tremendous and amazing. Mani Ratnam has left no stone unturned when it comes to making the film at its best. The screenplay needs to be a little better to understand the flow of the story. AR Rahman has poured soul into the film. The background music makes the whole movie run. Costumes are a grandeur and so are the makeup and hair. Everyone is beautifully rendered and their royal looks are simply fantastic. Action sequences are ‘wow’.
The credit goes to Mani Ratnam who made a film with a genre he hasn’t touched before, but nailed in making it.
Watch the trailer of Ponniyin Selvan below…
What not?
You need time to understand what is happening. To get used to ‘who’s who’, and then to remember their names, to learn who is a ‘Chola’ and who is not, you need time. So this movie isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. You have to watch it at least twice to understand the mythology properly.
The screenplay and narration could have been much better. The first half hour of the film deals with the development of the story that not all of us are aware of.
BL verdict: Ponniyin Selvan is grandeur on screen and it has to be watched to be beautifully made. Worth watching again and again.
Ratings: 3.5/5
Stay tuned to BollywoodLife for the latest Bollywood, Hollywood, South, TV and Web-Series firsts and updates.
Click to join us Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Also follow us on Facebook messenger for the latest updates.