Rating: 3/5
Cast: Vikram-Jayam Ravi-Karthi-Aishwarya Rai-Trisha-Prakash Raj-Sarath Kumar-Kishore-Parthiban-
Dialogues: Jeyamohan
Producers: Subhaskaran-Maniratnam
Screenplay: Mani Ratnam-Jayamohan-Kumaravel
Directed by: Mani Ratnam
'Ponniyan Selvan' is a Tamil film which is directed by Legendary director Mani Ratnam, who has been dreaming for many years to make this film based on the novel 'Ponniyan Selvan' written by the late author Kalki. Part-1 has been brought to the audience today. Let's see what's in store.
Aditya Karikalan (Vikram) and Arunmoli (Jayam Ravi), the sons of Sundara Chola (Prakash Raj), who rule the Chola kingdom, go in different directions with their army and conquer different kingdoms as part of their kingdom expansion. Meanwhile, the internal kings conspire to take over the Chola kingdom.
Realizing that something is happening behind them, Aditya sends Vallavaraya Vandidevan (Karthi) who is his friend. He learns about the conspiracy around the king's throne and tries to solve and help his friend and the Kingdom. On the other hand, the Pandya kings, who lost their kingdom to the Chola kings, plot to eliminate Arunmoli. Whether Arunmoli escaped from these attacks. Whether Valla Narayan was able to save him, what's Nandini's role in the conspiracy forms the rest of the story.
Analysis:
Ponniyin Selvan is a movie based on novel "Ponniyin Selvan", one of the best novels in Tamil. Audience were very excited when Maniratnam is making a movie based on that novel.
Without having read the source material, the film adaptation makes for an engaging-enough watch. The story is filled with solid characters and the perfect star cast keeps the film floating. Each actor had moments to shine.
Karthi gets the most screen time and he carried the entire first half and impresses the audience in the whole movie. Vikram's look, screen presence, his gestures are impressive in the short time he appeared. The same is the case with Jayam Ravi and showed his talent as much as he could.
Aishwarya Rai is excellent in the role of Nandini. She has acted to the required level for a role that looks mysterious. Trisha seemed gorgeous in the role of Kundaivi and she too got a couple of good scenes. Sarath Kumar excelled in the pivotal role. Jayaram was impressed with his varied appearance and performance. Prakash Raj and Kishore did well.
Ravivarman's Cinematography is top-notch. Thota tarani's artwork is great.
On the flipside, Action sequences were a drag and needed to be tighter. They act as speed breakers in between the drama. AR Rahman gave a decent album but most of the songs are wasted on screen, except ‘Devaralan Aattam’. The background score is underwhelming.
Overall, lack of excitement at crucial moments dilutes the impact of 'Ponniyin Selvan, but the interesting story and the cast alone make it worth a watch and the movie acts as a good setup for the second part.
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