Ponniyin Selvan-1 Review - Mani Ratnam's Magnum Opus Deserves To Be PS - Passed & Skipped

The maverick and visionary filmmaker, Mani Ratnam, enters the period-historical-epic genre for the first time in his career with Ponniyin Selvan Part 1. Bringing together an ensemble cast of Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Trisha Krishnan, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Prabhu, R. Sarathkumar, Vikram Prabhu, Jayaram, Prakash Raj, Rahman and R. Parthiban is a dream for every filmmaker, but hardly one like Mani Sir managed to do it. I am a huge fan of his genre-defining films that include Mouna Ragam (1986), Nayakan (1987), Geethanjali (1989), Anjali (1990), Thalapathi (1991), Roja (1992), Bombay (1995), Iruvar (1997), Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Yuva (2005) and Guru (2007). After that, he failed to keep the high standard intact with many of his next films, and then the announcement of PS-1 generated vibes of his true return to the big screen bonanza. On a sad note, I'd like to mention that those expectations remain unmatched and incomplete. PS-1 has grandeur, but the wrong choice of the story and below-par execution make it a skippaba affair. There are many stories in the rich history of India, but what to choose and what to leave out remains the biggest challenge for today's filmmakers. Ashutosh Gowariker made the same mistake with Mohenjo Daro and Panipat, and now Mani Ratnam seems to have repeated the same mistake.Ponniyin Selvan is quite a messy story for normal audiences to understand, especially those who had weak grades in history in school. M. G. Ramachandran attempted the cinematic adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthy's novel, Ponniyin Selvan, but didn't get the final go. Many other filmmakers also tried their hands on this story, but couldn't grab the final grip. Decades later, Mani Ratnam tried to adapt Ponniyin Selvan in the mid-1990s and early 2010s, but these efforts were also unsuccessful. Now, he has finally brought his 'dream project' to the screen, but now I feel like it was better as a dream than a reality.Set in the 10th century, PS-1 explores the history of the Chola Dynasty, who ruled prosperously across South India then. Sundara Chola (Prakash Raj) has set up his kingdom and his sons, Aditha Karikalan (Chiyaan Vikram) and Arunmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi), who have conquered Kanchi and Sri Lanka, respectively. A group of devoted Pandya soldiers plots to avenge the death of their king, Veerapandyan (Nassar), on the battlefield by Aditha. Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) is the Queen of Pazhuvoor, who was once Aditha's lover and now wants to take revenge, while Sundara's daughter Kundavai (Trisha) is dedicated to saving the kingdom.Like I said, it is a very messy story, and it will take you a while to get to know the characters. It is also possible that the B-center masses will not understand the characters and their names even after the ending. Ponniyin Selvan is like a book coming to the screen when you expected a film. That's how uneasy things are here. The screenplay is too slow and gives you many chances to take a nap during the long narrative that bores you for 167 minutes. The action sequences are outdated — considering that we are in the SS Rajamouli and Prashanth Neel era, where the action zone has been raised to the next level. Adding more fakeness to it makes it tedious because we have seen all the same stuff again and again in almost every action drama.One must have expected PS-1 to be Chiyaan Vikram's film, but let me tell you, it is not. Vikram plays a minor role in comparison to the hype that his name has generated, and aside from that one monologue, nothing works for him. Karthi comes as a surprise package and tries too hard to impress the funnily written character. Aishwarya Rai's beauty and dialogue delivery is still the same as it was a decade ago, and the second leading lady, Trisha, also looks absolutely phenomenal. Sobhita Dhulipala hardly has a role to be spoken about, while Aishwarya Lekshmi does surprisingly well. The supporting roles of Prakash Raj, R. Sarathkumar, Jayaram, Ashwin Rao, Lal and others are decent.The Hindi songs in the film are lukewarm, but that Saanjh chorus is a sweet melody. We know AR Rahman could do much better than this. Ravi Varman's cinematography has some really amazing frames, and the visual effects make this grandeur look gorgeous. Prasad could have edited the film better than this, but it is difficult to know what to expect as the novel had such a long story to translate it into a cinema with a limited runtime. Mani Ratnam's direction falls flat as he fails to recognise the pulse of today's audience. PS-1 is a highly disappointing project for a high-calibre director like Mani Ratnam. This one just doesn't suit his standards (I mean that old Ratnam before 2010). Overall, PS-1 is a below-par film, and is unlikely to create a buzz for Part 2 like Bahubali and KGF did.