Maniratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan 1 & 2 has smashed box-office records and taken the cinematic world by storm, attracting widespread praise and critical acclaim from film fans, critics and even from within the film industry. In South Africa, it had a wide release in three languages and retained all its releasing screens for the second week – which is also a monumental achievement.
Sigaram takes a critical look at this landmark film, taking into account that Maniratnam is no ordinary director and we are therefore duty bound to hold him to a higher standard – a standard determined by his own illustrious film career. In terms of that standard, as good as Ponniyin Selvan 2 is, there are many shortcomings that need to be pointed out – not to bring the film down but to ensure that aspirant filmmakers know that even the masters sometimes falter.
One should start off by saying that Ponniyin 2 is a film of grandeur, full of visual magic, elaborate sets, magnificent locations and an incredibly talented cast.
The film contains some of the finest acting performances seen on the Tamil screen in many years. Heading this list is an electrifying performance from Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan in an intriguing dual role that calls for subtlety and intense expressions, often simultaneously, and Aishwarya handles this with consummate ease. Even her screen character is etched out to fine detail and more three dimensional than what was seen in Part 1.
Vikram matches the intensity of Aishwarya’s performance with a fiery portrayal that traverses a wide range of emotions and expressions. From his body language to diction to facial expressions, Vikram puts heart and soul into his portrayal of Aditha Karikalan.
Despite these towering performances from Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan and Vikram, Karthi refuses to be overshadowed with a simply brilliant and energetic performance that boosts the screenplay at critical points. His acting takes his character well beyond the script and is solid evidence of the quality of actor he is.
Jayam Ravi does well in his portrayal but is weighed down by the limitations of the script.
Trisha, in a role that is substantially shorter than her role in Part 1, still manages to exude a powerful screen presence and dominates the scenes in which she appears.
Technically, Ravi Varman’s cinematography does more than capture the grandeur of the sets and locations, it also contains multiple breathtakingly creative angles and innovative use of light. His work in the battle and action sequences also elevates the film a few rungs.
Having not read the book, I cannot comment on how accurate the film is to the book but what is evident to anyone is that the term historical fiction could not possibly apply to Ponniyin Selvan 1 or 2. There is nothing of substance that one can learn about the history of the Chola dynasty from either Part 1 or Part 2 and the limited references mean that the letters “hi” should be dropped from the word history. Apart from some one-liners in the voice-over at the beginning and end of the film, Ponniyin Selvan is a generic story that can easily be set anywhere else.
In terms of writing, Ponniyin Selvan falls well short of Maniratnam’s previous standards. Many of the crucial exchanges are wordy and seemed to be modelled more on a TV serial than a cinematic setting. Even the crucial scene of confrontation between Karikalan and Nandhini is overwritten, with some of Karikalan’s lines bordering on self-emasculation, which seemed strongly out of character for him. The otherwise captivating scene would have hit harder had the script been leaner and crisper – attributes that used to be the hallmark of Maniratnam’s films. This was despite the fact that the film boasted three scriptwriters in Maniratnam, Elango Kumaravel and B. Jayammohan.
Not as much attention as needed was given to many of the scenes, resulting in character inconsistencies simply there to keep the screenplay moving. A lot of the organic humour that existed in Part 1 seemed contrived in Part 2, almost as if some humour had to be injected as part of a formula.
A lot has been said and written about the music of AR Rahman and I found that the placement of the songs as background songs worked well but the instrumentation did not match the film’s setting. Furthermore, in a film where the emotional content was this high, the music plays little or no supporting role in heightening emotions and fails to support the narrative as one would expect.
The commercial elements of love, betrayal, angst and sadness dominate Ponniyin Selvan 2 which forces it to stay firmly in the realm of commercial cinema. The love story, in particular, is enjoyable and all has all the touches of a Maniratnam romance but does little in expanding the film’s setting. Perhaps this was Maniratnam’s intention, but given the depth and scope of the historical context, the film does appear to trivialise an important part of Tamil history
Despite these flaws, Ponniyin Selvan 2 remains a landmark film and should be enjoyed for its visual splendour on the big screen.
Ponniyin Selvan 2 scores 7 points out of 10.