‘Ponniyin Selvan’ is one of the biggest films made in South India. Based on the novel written by legendary Kalki Krishnamurthy with the same title, this is Mani Ratnam’s dream project. After trying to give a visual form for this popular novel for the past three decades, the ‘Roja’ director finally managed to make it. The first part of ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ is released this Friday amidst huge hype and expectations.
With big names in front and behind the camera, ‘PS – 1’ is expected to be a gripping political drama with grandeur and epicness written all over it. The premiere shows in the US are done and this is what they have to say about this gigantic film.
While the Tamil audience are embracing the film very well due to the emotional attachment with their history, the regular movie lovers claim that there are no high points in the film that makes you cheer. Apparently, the ‘wow’ factor is missing in ‘PS – 1’ and Mani Ratnam tried to underplay a lot of scenes which had the potential to give goosebumps to the audience.
Majority of the first part is invested in setting the basic plot and introducing us to the main characters. From what we hear, Karthi steals the show in ‘PS – 1’ with an entertaining role. Though Vikram and Jayam Ravi make their mark, it is the ‘Oopiri’ hero who drives the film and does a fantastic job. Coming to the female leads, both Aishwarya Rai as Nandini is tremendous and her acting is a treat to watch as per reports. Trisha did a great job too and the confrontation between these two characters came out pretty well.
It is AR Rahman who stands as the main hero behind the screens for ‘PS – 1’. His background scores and songs have lifted the film so many times as the narration appears weak and flat. Talk suggests that Mani Ratnam did not make full use of a strong story as the intensity went missing in most of the scenes. The political drama and dialogues between the cast should create a lot of intrigue and thrill which does not appear in ‘PS-1’. Also, there were complaints about the movie’s graphics during the end portions. Mani Ratnam’s visual brilliance is very much evident in this film but it is not a visual spectacle like the recent high-budget historic or fantasy films. On the whole, ‘PS – 1’ is a film backed by strong performances and sound technical quality but there are shortcomings in the film which needed to be addressed in the second part.
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