ate him or like him, you have to acknowledge that Mani Ratnam is an excellent filmmaker and is back with a blockbuster. His directorial, adaptation of one of the greatest fictions of Tamil literature—’Ponniyin Selvan’ written by author Kalki—is nothing short of an epic.
Ratnam’s magnum opus is based on some odd 2,220-pages-thick novel crafted in the early 1950s which revolves around the life of Arulmozhi Varman who became the great Chola emperor Rajaraja Chola I. Author Kalki had woven a tale of a power struggle among popular kingdoms in South—Cholar, Cheran and Pandiyans, a story of love and war tempered with his wit. and his co-writers Elango Kumaravel and Jeyamohan [who also wrote dialogues] certainly did not have an easy job at hand. But the team has managed to deliver a film that is as intricately written as the source novel and respects the original plot instead of culling it and leaving a mess for the audience.
If you walk into the cinema halls expecting some ‘Baahubali’ or ‘RRR’-esque film; it is not. ‘PS-I’ requires you to engage with the plot, it commands that kind of attention so you can grip onto smaller details and join the dots.
The plot of the film, narrated through Vallavaraiyan Vanthiyathevan alias Vanthiyathevan (Karthi), begins with a comet appearance indicating trouble over the dynasty which will end in death but for whom is the real question. Although everyone assumes it is going to be ailing King Sundara Chola (Prakash Raj), the danger is looming large over both hot-tempered crowned prince Aditha Karikalan (Vikram) and Arulmozhivarman or Pooniyin Selvan [Son of Ponni/ Kaveri] (Jairam Ravi).
