'Ponniyin Selvan - 2' Movie Review
Cast: Chiyaan Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha, Sarath Kumar, Vikram Prabhu, Prakash Raj, Sobitha Dhulipala, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Lal, Parthiban and many others.
Music: AR Rahman
Cinematography: Ravi Varman
Dialogues: Tanikella Bharani
Producer: Subhaskaran and Mani Ratnam
Screenplay: Mani Ratnam, Jay Mohan, Kumara Vel
Director: Mani Ratnam
Though Mani Ratnam's 'Ponniyin Selvan - 1' which came out last year got a blockbuster result in Tamil Nadu, the movie did impress other people. As a continuation to the first part, 'PS - 2' has arrived in theatres. With a huge star cast like Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Trisha, Jayam Ravi, Karthi and others playing the lead, the movie is naturally arriving with high expectations. Let us find out if the second part is better than the first one or not.
Story:
Sundara Chola's (Prakash Raj) younger son Arunmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi) gets severely injured in the attack orchestrated by Pandyas. The Cholas get information that he is dead and panic bells ring all over the kingdom. Arunmozhi's brother Aditya Karikalan (Vikram) and sister Kundavai (Trisha) are drowned in sorrow. But Mandakini who lives on the sea coast like a goddess rescue Arunmozhi Varman. With the help of Vanthiyadevan (Karthi), Arunmozhi recovers in a Buddha temple. The Pandyas still search for him as they want to kill him soon. On the other hand, Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) is hellbent on killing Aditya Karikaalan and destroying the Chola kingdom. Will their efforts succeed? What happens to the Chola dynasty now? All these form the rest of the story.
Analysis:
Mani Ratnam is one of the biggest and finest directors in India. No one can deny this fact and he is one of the best storytellers who delivered one classic after another at one point in time. Irrespective of the box office result, Mani Ratnam has the ability to arrest you with his master storytelling and flawless technical brilliance. Such a great director has made it his dream project to bring the epic Tamil novel 'Ponniyin Selvan' into life on the big screen. He has worked on it for decades and finally made the film into two parts. The first part came out last year and the Tamil audience were singing laurels about it. Keeping them aside, the Telugu viewers did not get the same feeling and wondered if the novel is really as great as everyone says or not. Many failed to explain the story after coming out of the theatres or even talk about the characters. There was a lot going on at the same time in 'PS - 1' and Mani Ratnam's narration way too haphazard. In the midst of so many roles, different names, their backgrounds, their motives and their plans, there are only a few scenes that impressed the audience. Everything was just a compilation of many complicated characters and scenes. The first part ended midway and 'PS - 2' began where it stopped in the same manner.
If you were satisfied with 'Ponniyin Selvan - 1', you will also love 'PS - 2'. People who didn't like the first part will find the second part as a huge nightmare. But a lot of questions that were posed in the first part will have their answers in the second film. People who already watched the first film will get used to the names of the characters and understand their motives to some extent. We understand the story better this time but there are still a lot of questions that were left unanswered. With Mani Ratnam continuing the same style of narration in 'PS - 2' too, many leave the theatres with a lot of questions and confusion. Unless you sit beside a person who read the novel and make him explain everything after each scene, you will not get a hold of what's going on with complete details. Mani Ratnam made the film under the assumption that people have already read the novel. Even people who read the book will not feel that the greatness of the novel was translated on the big screen. Despite understanding everything, you will not get a feeling that you watched an epic story and Mani Ratnam's execution has to be blamed for this.
No matter how hard you try, we will always remember Rajamouli's masterpieces like 'Baahubali' and 'RRR' due to the huge grandeur he showcased and the emotions he brought out from his characters. The way he elevated his main characters and narrated the story without any complications added with the jaw-dropping action sequences makes the Telugu audience feel that 'Ponniyin Selvan' is not up to the standards even though 'PS - 1' is a completely different story. Though Mani Ratnam's style is unique, the movie pales in comparison to his previous classics. You will be stunned by Rahman's musical output, Ravi Varman's frames, Thota Tharani's sets and many other technical aspects but the screenplay and direction are the places where the film falters completely. Barring one sequence in Buddha Temple and the climax fight, the others do not impress the audience. But they follow 'Baahubali' pattern which makes the audience easy to connect with the viewers. Though it is a bit lengthy, this sequence is well executed. People who are impressed with the first part will enjoy the second part. Otherwise, keep your expectations very low when stepping into the theatres.
Performances:
Compared to the first part, Jayam Ravi gets highlighted more in this movie. His look and screen presence will impress the audience. The movie ends with him taking the centre stage. Vikram showed his specialty in whatever screen time he gets. His look is amazing and Aishwarya Rai gets a superb role. She did a great job but the heavy makeup done to hide her age acts as a huge disturbance to the viewers. There are scenes where she just emotes with her eyes and leaves the audience speechless. Trisha is gorgeous on the big screen and did a commendable job. You simply cannot take your eyes off her. Karthi once again becomes the scene stealer with his entertaining act. He is a huge relief in an otherwise serious film. Prakash and Sarath Kumar get very less screen time but did very well. Kishore, Jayaram, Rehman and others did their part quite well.
Technicians:
The movie has very high standards when it comes to technical quality. Mani Ratnam's movies are known for their technical excellence and this film is amazing in that aspect. AR Rahman's background score is top class and his orchestration is world-class. There are not many songs in the movie but his bit songs and background score are on another level. Ravi Varman's camerawork is flawless and Thota Tharani's production design is award-worthy. Every frame exudes awesomeness and one can only marvel the brilliance of every technician. The production values are top-notch. Jayamohan's screenplay is not engaging. Mani Ratnam once again disappoints the audience. He fails to narrate in a way that the viewer can easily understand the story. We all know that spoon-feeding has never been Mani Ratnam's style but people who are fans of his work will find it hard to get impressed by 'Ponniyin Selvan'. His movies used to stun the audience before but it is not the cast with 'Ponniyin Selvan'.
Verdict: PS - 2 has some highs but many lows!
Rating: 2.25/5
Disclaimer : This Review is Just An Opinion of One Person. Please Do Not Judge The Movie Based On This Review And Watch Movie in Theater
Cast: Chiyaan Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha, Sarath Kumar, Vikram Prabhu, Prakash Raj, Sobitha Dhulipala, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Lal, Parthiban and many others.
Music: AR Rahman
Cinematography: Ravi Varman
Dialogues: Tanikella Bharani
Producer: Subhaskaran and Mani Ratnam
Screenplay: Mani Ratnam, Jay Mohan, Kumara Vel
Director: Mani Ratnam
Though Mani Ratnam's 'Ponniyin Selvan - 1' which came out last year got a blockbuster result in Tamil Nadu, the movie did impress other people. As a continuation to the first part, 'PS - 2' has arrived in theatres. With a huge star cast like Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Trisha, Jayam Ravi, Karthi and others playing the lead, the movie is naturally arriving with high expectations. Let us find out if the second part is better than the first one or not.
Story:
Sundara Chola's (Prakash Raj) younger son Arunmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi) gets severely injured in the attack orchestrated by Pandyas. The Cholas get information that he is dead and panic bells ring all over the kingdom. Arunmozhi's brother Aditya Karikalan (Vikram) and sister Kundavai (Trisha) are drowned in sorrow. But Mandakini who lives on the sea coast like a goddess rescue Arunmozhi Varman. With the help of Vanthiyadevan (Karthi), Arunmozhi recovers in a Buddha temple. The Pandyas still search for him as they want to kill him soon. On the other hand, Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) is hellbent on killing Aditya Karikaalan and destroying the Chola kingdom. Will their efforts succeed? What happens to the Chola dynasty now? All these form the rest of the story.
Analysis:
Mani Ratnam is one of the biggest and finest directors in India. No one can deny this fact and he is one of the best storytellers who delivered one classic after another at one point in time. Irrespective of the box office result, Mani Ratnam has the ability to arrest you with his master storytelling and flawless technical brilliance. Such a great director has made it his dream project to bring the epic Tamil novel 'Ponniyin Selvan' into life on the big screen. He has worked on it for decades and finally made the film into two parts. The first part came out last year and the Tamil audience were singing laurels about it. Keeping them aside, the Telugu viewers did not get the same feeling and wondered if the novel is really as great as everyone says or not. Many failed to explain the story after coming out of the theatres or even talk about the characters. There was a lot going on at the same time in 'PS - 1' and Mani Ratnam's narration way too haphazard. In the midst of so many roles, different names, their backgrounds, their motives and their plans, there are only a few scenes that impressed the audience. Everything was just a compilation of many complicated characters and scenes. The first part ended midway and 'PS - 2' began where it stopped in the same manner.
If you were satisfied with 'Ponniyin Selvan - 1', you will also love 'PS - 2'. People who didn't like the first part will find the second part as a huge nightmare. But a lot of questions that were posed in the first part will have their answers in the second film. People who already watched the first film will get used to the names of the characters and understand their motives to some extent. We understand the story better this time but there are still a lot of questions that were left unanswered. With Mani Ratnam continuing the same style of narration in 'PS - 2' too, many leave the theatres with a lot of questions and confusion. Unless you sit beside a person who read the novel and make him explain everything after each scene, you will not get a hold of what's going on with complete details. Mani Ratnam made the film under the assumption that people have already read the novel. Even people who read the book will not feel that the greatness of the novel was translated on the big screen. Despite understanding everything, you will not get a feeling that you watched an epic story and Mani Ratnam's execution has to be blamed for this.
No matter how hard you try, we will always remember Rajamouli's masterpieces like 'Baahubali' and 'RRR' due to the huge grandeur he showcased and the emotions he brought out from his characters. The way he elevated his main characters and narrated the story without any complications added with the jaw-dropping action sequences makes the Telugu audience feel that 'Ponniyin Selvan' is not up to the standards even though 'PS - 1' is a completely different story. Though Mani Ratnam's style is unique, the movie pales in comparison to his previous classics. You will be stunned by Rahman's musical output, Ravi Varman's frames, Thota Tharani's sets and many other technical aspects but the screenplay and direction are the places where the film falters completely. Barring one sequence in Buddha Temple and the climax fight, the others do not impress the audience. But they follow 'Baahubali' pattern which makes the audience easy to connect with the viewers. Though it is a bit lengthy, this sequence is well executed. People who are impressed with the first part will enjoy the second part. Otherwise, keep your expectations very low when stepping into the theatres.
Performances:
Compared to the first part, Jayam Ravi gets highlighted more in this movie. His look and screen presence will impress the audience. The movie ends with him taking the centre stage. Vikram showed his specialty in whatever screen time he gets. His look is amazing and Aishwarya Rai gets a superb role. She did a great job but the heavy makeup done to hide her age acts as a huge disturbance to the viewers. There are scenes where she just emotes with her eyes and leaves the audience speechless. Trisha is gorgeous on the big screen and did a commendable job. You simply cannot take your eyes off her. Karthi once again becomes the scene stealer with his entertaining act. He is a huge relief in an otherwise serious film. Prakash and Sarath Kumar get very less screen time but did very well. Kishore, Jayaram, Rehman and others did their part quite well.
Technicians:
The movie has very high standards when it comes to technical quality. Mani Ratnam's movies are known for their technical excellence and this film is amazing in that aspect. AR Rahman's background score is top class and his orchestration is world-class. There are not many songs in the movie but his bit songs and background score are on another level. Ravi Varman's camerawork is flawless and Thota Tharani's production design is award-worthy. Every frame exudes awesomeness and one can only marvel the brilliance of every technician. The production values are top-notch. Jayamohan's screenplay is not engaging. Mani Ratnam once again disappoints the audience. He fails to narrate in a way that the viewer can easily understand the story. We all know that spoon-feeding has never been Mani Ratnam's style but people who are fans of his work will find it hard to get impressed by 'Ponniyin Selvan'. His movies used to stun the audience before but it is not the cast with 'Ponniyin Selvan'.
Verdict: PS - 2 has some highs but many lows!
Rating: 2.25/5
Disclaimer : This Review is Just An Opinion of One Person. Please Do Not Judge The Movie Based On This Review And Watch Movie in Theater
