Ponniyin Selvan-2 Review - Mani Ratnam Improvises The Passable & Skippable Historical Epic With Few Glitches

Mani Ratnam's ambitious Magnum Opus, Ponniyin Selvan Part 1, aka PS-1, was a record smashing blockbuster in the domestic market but failed outside the state. The film itself wasn't good, but the cultural references and historical connection were long awaited by Tamil audiences, so they rushed into cinemas and made it a huge hit. The Hindi and other states did not perform well enough, and the reason was quite well known: nobody is interested in watching the Chola Dynasty's stories outside the Tamil regions. PS-1 was too lengthy and outdated to be called a good film since other filmmakers in South have raised the bar too high, whereas the legendary Mani Ratnam couldn't think of expanding his vision as he always stuck to being a story-oriented director. SS Rajamouli's entry made a big difference for South cinema, and that's why those films are being watched by Hindi audiences outside of YouTube too. Rajamouli never had to worry about the story since his father, Vijayendra Prasad, takes good care of it, so all he has to do is focus on scale and presentation that'd look like never-seen-before. Mani Ratnam is a better director than Rajamouli and has a far better filmography too (IMO), but he never got the chance to make larger-than-life films continuously. He somewhat tried to do that with Ponniyin Selvan, but again, he chose to focus more on storytelling than scale and presentation. PS-2 is grand but too cliched, and there's nothing extraordinary. Of course, the story was long overdue, and many well-known filmmakers failed to bring it to the big screen. Therefore, it was necessary to take care of the storyline and historical accuracy since it's a story that has a special place in people's hearts. PS-1 was bad, and PS-2 is slightly better, but again, there is nothing too impressive about it. Mani Ratnam has improvised his own mediocrity, which would've looked better in the 90s or 00s.PS-2 starts off where we left off PS-1: presumed dead, Arunmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi), aka Ponniyin Selvan, is saved by Mandakini. Aditha Karikalan (Vikram) wants revenge, but he gains his calmness after learning about Ponniyin's survival from Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan (Karthi). Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) is set for revenge against the Chola Dynasty and wants them dead, but she has to go through her former lover, Aditha, before reaching the emperor of the Cholas, Sundara Cholan (Prakash Raj). Meanwhile, Princess Kundavai (Trisha) falls in love with Vallavaraiyan. The Pallavas and Pandyas join forces to defeat the Cholas, as Nandini and one of the Cholas' leaders (who wants to be the King) support them in the battle. The rest of the story follows multiple conspiracies, several shocking facts from the past, battles, betrayals, and what not.PS-2 doesn't take long to get to the point, as it begins with Nandini and Karikalan's past, which has a lot to do with the present and future of the Cholas. PS-1 took a hell of a lot of time because the characters needed space to be introduced, and it was impossible to sum up so many characters within such a short time. This one is more pacy and engaging, and most importantly, this one is not boring at all. The first half was impressive, and I thought this one was far better than the first one. Then, I had to see an unnecessarily dragged second half, which again reminded me of the mediocrity we used to see in the 90s. PS-2 lacks updated storytelling and modern theories. That's too bad. Just when I thought that this was going to end on a healthy note, there was that mega-melodramatic confrontation scene between Nandini and Aditha. Mandakini's death scene had an outdated melodramatic song, and at the time Ponniyin was seen in his first ever power-packed action sequence. What a mismatch. The last battle scene was full of glitches. You can't cut off the battle scene unless it's finished completely. Here you see that happening in many scenes, while the VFX and action choreography were already too banal and corney.PS-2 has a big cast, and almost everyone has done a good job. Starting with Chiyaan Vikram, he is the main protagonist, even though the film is named after Jayam Ravi's character. I missed him in action, but he was fine in those intense scenes. Aishwarya Rai looks beautiful in some scenes, while some of them expose the overuse of cosmetics. There is still some magic in her presence. She plays a double role: one reminds you of Jodhaa Akbar, and the other will take you back to the memories of Sarabjit. Trisha is simply gorgeous, but she lacks acting-driven scenes. The same happened with two other ladies, Sobhita Dhulipala and Aishwarya Lekshmi. Coming back to the male leads, Karthi is exceptional in a few scenes and damn irritating the rest of the time. The film is named after Ponniyin Selvan, but I can't understand why he doesn't have enough screen space. Why did Jayam Ravi look like a supporting actor in both films of the PS series? No matter how good he was, how can I accept the fact that the film titled Ponniyin Selvan has Ponniyin Selvan in a side role? The supporting roles of Prakash Raj, Prabhu, Rahman, R. Sarathkumar, R. Parthiban, Lal, and others are okay.AR Rahman has given a worthy album to PS-2. None of the songs have chart-buster values since the film is set in an ancient era when today's music forms were not available. The songs are situational, and they suit the momentum and feeling of those emotional sequences. The background score in the war sequence at the end was spine-chilling, despite the tepid fight scenes. The scale is big, but the visual effects are below par. Mani Ratnam's storytelling is fine, as he was always curved towards telling the story through characters and their emotions, but he forgot that a big budget historical action epic deserves a larger-than-life vision, not any humdrum execution. He lacks that. The glitches in the editing and framework are simply unforgivable. He is best at content-driven cinema that doesn't require a huge budget, a big cast, or humongous sets. PS-1 and PS-2 combined are not even half of the classics and great works like Mouna Ragam (1986), Nayakan (1987), Geethanjali (1989), Anjali (1989), Thalapathi (1991), Roja (1992), Bombay (1995), Iruvar (1997), Alaipayuthey (2000), and Kannathil Muthamittal (2002). Maybe that era is not coming back. I admit, I had false hopes for the PS series. So overall, PS-2 is watchable, but nothing up to the Mani Ratnam standard I or you worship.