Ponniyin Selvan

The plot revolves around the Chola dynasty. Sundara Cholan is the current king, and his sons Aditha Karikalan and Arulmozhi Varman are warriors. Both of them ...

When you backtrack Ponniyin Selvan: I, it manages to make you connect the dots and understand characters in a better way. And the whole power politics you see in the film somewhere stays with you. The camera is mainly in that hand-held position, and the movie reserves those beauty-shots for the key moments of the film that demands your absolute attention. The only area that felt a bit tiring was the climax fight, but somewhere you get a feeling that a tiresomeness was required to give that set piece some significance. It is a two-part movie with a cliffhanger ending, and the purpose of the first part is to familiarize the world to the audience. The film opens with a war sequence, and Ravi Varman is practically in the middle of the battlefield, capturing the action. In terms of screen time and scope to perform, it was Karthi who got the significant chunk of the scenes, and I must say that his portrayal of this cocky character helped the movie a lot in being entertaining. The only major set piece is the ship fight, and there wasn’t any moment where it felt cartoonish. It’s a movie with a budget of 500 crores, and yet there is perhaps only one aerial shot of a battlefield, that too with dead bodies. The language of the movie is pretty hard, and the character pool is huge. There is a scene in which Sarathkumar’s Pazhuvettaraiyar screams in anger, and the servant character, played by Vinodhini Vaidyanathan, moves away out of fear. While all this is happening, there is unrest within the empire over power, and conspiracies are happening to grab power after Sundara Cholan’s rule.

Ponniyin Selvan 1 movie review: Mani Ratnam understands Kalki's novel is a mainstream page-turner, so he retains its flavour and neither intellectualises it ...

The next time when we see Karthi, he is in a boat in the ocean. He also understands that Ponniyin Selvan is itself a mainstream page-turner that panders to the audience. Another thing that is majorly in favour of the film is the effective performances. It’s one thing to make shots scream ‘grand’ and another to shoot the innate grandness of things. Another hero of the film has stood behind the camera. When Kundhavai sends Vanthiyathevan to Sri Lanka, the film takes a huge leap. Personally, I felt the most heroic moments went to Trisha as Kundhavai, and not for a second she fails to live upto them. The director has said earlier he was worried about the dialogues as he wanted them to be pure Tamil but not dramatic and archaic. Here’s how: the king is undergoing acupuncture treatment and the doctors are piercing his ‘back’ with needles as he speaks to the traitors. Like in the novel, Vallavarayan Vanthiyathevan steals the show effortlessly. The meeting of Nandini ( The war sequences, however, make PS 1 the most commercial film of Mani Ratnam’s career.

Mani Ratnam's Tamil period drama 'Ponniyin Selvan: 1', featuring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan should definitely be on your bridal jewellery moodboard.

This stands most relevant for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who plays Nandini, the queen of Pazhuvoor, and had her jewellery [handcrafted](https://www.vogue.in/fashion/content/contemporary-indian-designers-redefining-handloom) and designed by Kishandas & Co. [historical](https://www.vogue.in/fashion/content/cartiers-jacqueline-karachi-talks-to-vogue-about-100-years-of-indian-history-within-its-collection-tutti-frutti) saga set in the 10th century captures the grandeur and magnificence of the Chola Dynasty, creating a visual spectacle onscreen. It was a vision board that gripped all the young damsels, and now we sit on yet another such revolution.

With Ratnam's period action film 'Ponniyin Selvan-I', based on author Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1955 Tamil novel of the same name, Karthi is being introduced to ...

The added benefit is that you get to be in a different mindset, wear costumes and do various things like horse riding," he added. "As a filmmaker, the way he understands people and emotions, he is so sensitive. How personal he can get into the characters and relationships..." The issues he picked... [Ponniyin Selvan](/topic/ponniyin-selvan)' is backed by Ratnam's production house Madras Talkies and Allirajah Subaskaran's banner Lyca Productions. He just turned the cinema on its head. You feel all the more confident because you are getting launched by Mani sir in a film. Normally in my films, I'm the only person facing the pressure, probably me and my director. "He's been a cult director right from the start. "I'm a part of a very large film. "To me, it is such a rich world and you want to go and experience that world. When we grew up, the kind of music he brought out for us and the way he created his characters," Karthi said.

Hrithik Roshan replied to Karthi and mentioned how he has been hearing only good things about Ponniyin Selvan 1.

My love & best wishes to Mani Ratnam Sir & the entire team. [#PS1]looks amazing & I’m hearing only good things about the film. [Ponniyin Selvan 1](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/ponniyin-selvan-1-movie-review-mani-ratnams-aishwarya-rai-8182366/) released in theatres along with the [Hrithik Roshan](https://indianexpress.com/about/hrithik-roshan/) and [Saif Ali Khan](https://indianexpress.com/about/saif-ali-khan/)-led [Vikram Vedha](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/vikram-vedha-movie-review-story-is-the-biggest-star-hrithik-roshan-saif-ali-khan-8181676/) on Friday.