How did they condense a pentalogy into two films? Writers of Ponniyin Selvan speak

'Ponniyin Selvan’s' screenplay co-writers Elango Kumaravel and Jeyamohan speak to TNM about the challenges in adapting the book to the screen, how visual elements are used to highlight the personality traits of characters, and more.
Karthi, Trisha, Vikram, Aishwarya Rai and Jayam Ravi from Ponniyin Selvan- 1
Karthi, Trisha, Vikram, Aishwarya Rai and Jayam Ravi from Ponniyin Selvan- 1
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Warning: Spoilers ahead

Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan: I has had a gargantuan run at the box office, having raked in over Rs 400 crore worldwide and setting the record as the highest grossing Tamil film yet. Based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's literary masterpiece set in the Chola era, PS-1 which hit the big screens on September 30, blends themes of palace intrigue, power struggles, valour, conspiracy, love, romance, and treachery. Featuring an ensemble cast of actors including Trisha, Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Sobhita Dhulipala, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Prabhu, Vikram Prabhu, and Jayaram among others, the film was released in five languages, namely Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi.

Having had to condense a pentalogy into a two-part film, while simultaneously tracing the individual tales of a host of important characters and intricate plot lines, Mani Ratnam and co-writers Jeyamohan and Elango Kumaravel definitely had their challenge cut out for them. Speaking to TNM on the process of adapting the novel to the big screen, Elango says that some scenes indeed had to be tweaked to establish logic and believability.

The book, for example, mentions that the king of Sri Lanka was in hiding while Arulmozhi Varman was there. “In the film, creative liberties were taken to show the boatman Ravidasan seeking help from the Sri Lankan king, who had been defeated by Ponniyin Selvan (Jayam Ravi),” says the actor-writer, who is also the co-founder of the Magic Lantern Theatre Collective, which has performed Ponniyin Selvan successfully on stage several times in the late 1990s.

“Adapting the novel to the visual medium meant that we had to convey many elements through the cinematography, music and the edit,” says Elango, pointing out that some elaborate scenes and important emotional points in the characters’ arcs have been visualised through songs. Besides, verses in songs have also been used to foreshadow upcoming events. For instance, the lines ‘Vendan kudi ketaal boodhavi, Rathathinai kotti baliyidu. Ilaiyon thalai ketaal bairavi, Rathathinai kotti baliyidu’ from the song ‘Devaralan Aatam’ hint at how someone in the royal bloodline and the youngest child of the king are in danger. Similarly, the line ‘Vaanum neerum serum, endro orr naal thaano(‘the ocean and sky don’t meet often’) might have been used to foreshadow Poonguzhali and Arulmozhi’s separation, which is hinted at towards the end of the story.

The way characters are depicted on screen was entirely dependent on the filmmaker’s sensibilities and his interpretation of the novel, Elango says. “We have a scene where Kundavai (Trisha) comes up with a strategy to persuade other kings to change allegiances. In the book, Kalki as the narrator describes Kundavai’s intelligence in detail. But in the film, this shot was kept to show her political prowess. Vikram’s Aditha Karikalan is more rugged, and Jayam Ravi’s Arulmozhi is more assertive than their respective characters in the novel,” he explains.

PS-I’s visual canvas

“We had to rely on visual elements to condense five volumes into a duology,” says Jeyamohan, who has worked as the dialogue and screenplay writer of films such as Neerparavai (2012), Kadal (2013), Kaaviya Thalaivan (2014) and Papanasam (2015). “The interaction between Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) and Vanthiyathevan (Karthi) unfolds in the same manner as the novel, but the characters don’t depend excessively on dialogues.” Top-angle shots of the revenge-seeking Nandini, which make her appear almost serpentine, offer the viewer insights into the character’s grey shades. Elango points out that lighting too has been used to convey details about certain characters.

In his interview with Galatta Plus prior to the film’s release, Mani Ratnam had observed that while writers have the liberty to explain characters vividly on paper, the onus of conveying it visually through cinema falls on the filmmaker. “He (Kalki) could simply write: ‘Kundavai can take you to paradise, whereas Nandini will convince you that the place you are in is paradise’,” the director said in the interview.

One can see how cinematographer Ravi Varman has used visual cues to bring to life the subtle nuances of a character’s personality. Falling in line with Kalki’s description, most of Kundavai’s shots use lively colours and take place outdoors, while Nandini is seen in golden hues, with deep and darker tones forming the backdrop. The colour tones used for other pivotal characters such as Arulmozhi Varman and Aditha Karikalan were also an extension of their personalities.

“We had done extensive research about the Chola period for the movie. But for the details to translate on screen, we had to turn them into visual elements and symbols. Sundara Chozhar undergoing acupuncture treatment was written in the script to depict how Chinese medicine was popular in the Chola era. But when it was adapted to screen by Mani Ratnam, Sundara Chozhar is informed about the Pazhuvettaraiyar brothers (Sarath Kumar and Parthiban) joining forces with others to plot against the king while he is undergoing the treatment. The needles used for acupuncture symbolises betrayal,” says Jeyamohan.

Criticism

Ponniyin Selvan-I had largely opened to positive responses from both movie buffs and critics. By and and large, Tamil viewers have found the film to have stayed true to the historical novel penned and serialised by Kalki in the 1950s. However, many ardent fans of Kalki’s work have not taken well to the film, criticising it for narrating only the important events of the plot and the omissions made by the film’s writers.

Sharing their thoughts on the criticism, both Elango and Jeyamohan say it was challenging to condense five story-rich volumes into a two-part film series. “We wanted to have a more elaborate introductory sequence for Poonguzhali (Aishwarya Lekshmi), but the order of events had to be changed and some scenes had to be cut,” Elango explains. Similarly, the movie shows a brief interaction between Kundavai and Aditha Karikalan, which never took place in the books. “The relationship between Kundavai and Karikalan can be inferred from different chapters in the book,” he says.

In response to questions about the omission of astrologer Kudanthai Jothidar’s character from the first part, Elango hints that the second part might feature the character.

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