Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two

This movie is a laudable attempt at recreating a thousand year old world - Note this is a "world" and not merely the Tamil nations of the time.. You see Sri Lanka, Andhra, Telengana, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharastra and even Thailand, perhaps as historically Chola influence was far-flung in a sprawling sphere of influence. Therein lies the problem, the world creation has taken an entire first part 1 to accomplish and the second part merely wraps up the story; albeit with some great moments of cinematic finesse in terms of acting, music, cinematography, costume design and direction.

We have seen a lot of periodic drama by now.. Whether it be the home-brewn "Baahubali" franchise, or the Western "The Game of Thrones" franchise, fans always went in to see "PS2" with similar expectations. Granted, we know that these two examples were spectacular in part thanks to an illogical world with fantasy science and fictional creatures. Still, movies such as these always showed how thrilling historical fiction could be, and films like "23aam pulikesi" did not even involve fantasy. These movies are completely different from "Ponniyin Selvan", yet manage to make the audience enthralled throughout the screen time and grips one with various techniques from the cinematic craft's handbooks. This is what is missing in the "PS" franchise as a whole - the screenplay was co-written by stage play writers such as Kumaravel and the novel writer Jayamohan.. These two are quite talented and possibly the best at Tamil fiction in their respective media, yet they have neither the training nor the effort to convert the "PS" books into a compelling franchise on the big screen (as many have already noted)...

The director has spun his magic around this fictional portrayal of the Tamil kings of old.. and shown the characters involved as complicated, realistic beings who one can appreciate up-close. Buoyed by fabulous performances from the cast, Maniratnam has succeeded in his long-time dream of bringing "PS" to the big screen. Yet, being a director predominantly obsessed with romance and characterisations, he has failed to deliver the twists & turns deserving of a mammoth effort.

Also, the action scenes are unimaginative and lacking of the ancient time's technological prowess.. For instance, the "Seric steel" which was common at this time to make sharp weapons was the inspiration behind the "Valyrian steel" in "The song of ice and fire" book series which in turn was made into the hit TV series "A game of thrones". Yet, why do we not have a passing mention of this in this movie franchise?! You need to have this attention to detail when you have to back up such Herculean efforts by the leading cast of this movie. Also, the time had many Muslim shipwrights advance the navy of Cholas, we do not see even a little of this.. We at least see the Chinese in form of physicians, who were behind the silk and fire arrows of the fabled Chola gunboats. We do not see the Arabian horses which were the reason why Chola cavalry won against North India so effortlessly multiple times, being more well suited for fast raids and horse archery. At least, we see the elephants which were five times in number in the Chola army, when compared to the Gangetic plain empires, thanks to differing geographic conditions. Also, having a Tiger head in the ships just like Dragon heads in the Viking ships of this age - is a nice imaginative touch. Yet, at times reality is mightier than fiction like the Seric steel which was rumoured to hold its edge even after hitting granite and cut medieval everything from silk to the European broadswords in half during the crusades.

The genius of the director is to maintain Aditta till the very end. In fact, few had expected Aditta (played by Vikram) Karikalan's character to be in the second half. Yet, he holds sway till half an hour before the movie ends. Also, the first ten minutes of this final thirty minutes is about others discussing him and the next fifteen minutes of battle is for him, followed by a five minute summary of Rajaraja's accomplishments. A few ancient kings & generals later fasted as pious scholars, after PTSD. This was depicted as fiction, although it is not shown that Chola Brahmins were Aditta's assasins in reality. Still, the level of detail in the filming production is impeccable. You see amazing costume design which mirror Cholas of the time, while appealing to a nation's current sensibilities. Also, every frame is like a painting as most backdrops are brilliant if indoors thanks to the set-work/VFX, and beautiful if outdoors.. This level of detail to tell a story which winds its way around the Chola empire would have been better. The twists and turns are told in a way which invites yawns. You do not see the audience rooting for any character, as we are not allowed the time to let any individual's heart or nerve points sink in to our thoughts. For instance, Vikram Prabhu's character has been dealt with neatly according to the book. Yet, not allowing a rushed script around his actions would have been better - he looks like a comedy film's heroine rebounding like in Kalakalappu2. Also, we do not see the tone remaining consistent throughout the film, bewildering us further.

Every frame Vikram comes in the film is deserving of an applause. Be it the first few scenes of battle ready pitching, or the later scenes of roaring dialogues from atop a horse (as if he was born to be a king, and has lived forever atop a horse), or the later heated discussions; he has given the word "method acting" a new definition. All actors have done their parts exceedingly well, from Jayaram (some comic relief, at last!) to Karthi, Jayam Ravi (subtle smile from atop that elephant - wow), Parthiban (owned the fort, shined in the few scenes like a true General), Prabhu (thundered in his siege), Sarath (his emotional scenes made him the hero of the scenes), Lal (fitting tribute to who could have been Uttamasili's peer), Rahman (just splendid as the sage-like prince, stylish finesse notwithstanding), Trisha (Kundavai, the powerhouse), Prakashraj (nothing less than magnificent throughout), Aishwaraya Rai (A revelation in the Kadambur scenes). I do not have much complaints of what has been changed from the books; the team has told a wonderful fictional story, albeit in a bland and soul-less way. We do not want fantastical action where palm trees are turned to catapults for humans like in Baahubali, yet we at least want some creative and engaging action where we enjoy what we see. Yet, we witness just regular action from any masala movie - which assistant director was responsible for these, I wonder..

The final action scene was marvellous for some, and laborious for some to sit through. Either way, the amount spent on this seemed to have paid dividends, as some loved this. The CGI was good, although some scenes had goofy VFX in the movie as a whole.. I have a few gripes about the climax though... Jayam Ravi did look incredibly upset about a loss in the scene before the battle. Yes, I agree that the happiness at gaining back some lost comrades/family & territory would be gratifying. Yet, I do not understand how the whole kingdom could move on so quickly, onto a gleeful coronation ceremony. At least, a few moments of reflection about the loss would have been worth displaying for the believability factor.

The opening of the film gives a more in-depth background to the whole romance in question of the film, replete with "Thalapathy" vibes. The river islet scene with Karthi (Vanthiyathevan) blindfolded and Trisha (Kundavai) is very popular in social media, deservingly so and yet laughable at times. The intensity of Kishore (Ravidasan) seems to have been misused in this part, making his character less impactful. The immense potential in these Pandyan rebel actors has been wasted. After showing Ravidasan's gang as pointless before the Chola princes, the main villains seems to be Nandhini and an antihero like Aditta Karikalan himself - thereby irking many Tamil fundamentalists online. Yet, the main fault of both films is not making, fighting these Pandyans a problem for the Chola princes. The unexpected Jayam Ravi (Arunmozhi/Rajaraja) fight to fend off Soman (Nawaz Khan) and gang is amazing for many viewers, yet is not choreographed beautifully enough to lend any justice to the villains. Strong villains add challenges to heroes in a movie, yet the palpable lack of tension whenever behemoths like Soman/Ravidasan enter the scene is ridiculous to say the least. Arunmozhi is shown to have difficulty in fighting the Rastrakuta king, so the ease with which he dispatched the Pandyan rebels is ridiculous (starting from the first part). Although, this inconsistency is nothing compared to other loopholes, this is glaring as we needed some tension at least, to have a film which does not lay bare the events without any suspense.

Poonguzhazhi and Senthan Amudhan are wasted, yet this is okay. Mandhakini being a strong rockclimbing deep-sea diver is reasonable, although some who have never met such people balk at this idea.. Some staging around these characters could have been done with a lot more creativity. Yet, we have some slow moving, repetitive scenes. The main fault, as I emphasise again, is that the film is boredom inducing, although several faults from the first part were fixed. The scenes are beautiful, of a love saga from a thousand years ago, yet this could have been told in a way more interesting manner. Watch this if you are waiting for a fitting and better end to the first part. This could also work if you are into visual spectacles, AR Rahman's wonderful music, amazing drama, Maniratnam's romance and/or masterful acting.

PS: The standout scene of PS emerging from a Buddhist vihara before the intermission, was spectacular. However, silly action sequences & the goofy speech with an elephant were off-putting to many. Vikram-Aish face-off scene was fabulous.