When veteran Tamil filmmaker Mani Ratnam decided to finally translate Kalki's literary magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan to celluloid, a long-pending dream project of Kollywood, fans were doing cartwheels in excitement. Amid euphoric discussions about the music and the grand ensemble cast, what had me looking forward to the movie the most was the story’s unforgettable women characters — all etched into the hearts of readers for different reasons — and the prospect of this ace director adapting them to screen.
Mani Ratnam, to his credit, has created some of the most headstrong women characters in Tamil cinema — Divya (Revathi) from Mouna Raagam and OK Kanmani’s Tara (Nithya Menen) immediately come to mind. Even in Guru, which follows the rise of an industrial tycoon, Sujata Desai (Aishwarya Rai) is never relegated to the background as just the ‘protagonist’s wife’. The filmmaker stayed true to the pattern in Ponniyin Selvan I as well, with the women coming off as powerful characters who leave an indelible mark on the audience’s minds.
Kalki’s novel had left me especially enamoured by Kundavai's intelligence, her ‘stateswomanship’ and allure; Manimekalai (who is yet to make an appearance in the films) for her gentle and untainted love; and even Nandini, with whom one can sympathise. While the novel is centred around male characters, it is really the women who bring life to the story. There are the plots Nandini hatches to ‘help’ Madurantakan, who nurses ambitions to ascend the throne. There are Kundavai's attempts to foil these plots and keep her brothers in the scene, both metaphorically and literally, by trying to get them to the Chozha heartland. Then there is Poonguzhali and her cunning ways to tackle male warriors and accomplish all that she has set out to do.
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Since these women and their actions are what inarguably drives the narrative of Ponniyin Selvan, finding the right fit for roles with such depth is likely to have been a Herculean task. Casting Aishwarya Rai as Nandini must have been a no-brainer for the director. Even as a Gen Z reader of the novel, I could not envision anyone else pulling off the multi-layered enigma called Nandini with such grace. Like Aishwarya, Trisha too played Kundavai to perfection in her very first period film, displaying elegance and panache in every scene that warrants the same.
The scene featuring the duo’s face-off is enough to convince anyone of the power in these actors’ performances, as one could only see Kundavai and Nandini on screen, and not the actors playing them. This scene also reveals how Kundavai is no less haughty than Nandini. As she arrives at the Thanjai palace, Kundavai does not ascend the stairs immediately to meet them, instead waiting for Nandini to come down to welcome her. Nandini, for all her pride and vanity in her beauty, chooses to walk down to Kundavai as her need for manipulation and deception takes precedence. This scene perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the two regal women in their full glory, trying to outdo each other.
Personally, I was not thrilled with the director’s casting choices with regard to some of the film’s primary male characters. For instance, Ashwin Kakumanu’s Sendhan Amudhan has lost the original character’s god-fearing, gentle-mannered disposition (probably because of the events that unfold later, not to spoil PS-2). Even the casting of Jayam Ravi, who plays the titular Ponniyin Selvan, did not sit well with me. This may have something to do with the fact that his series of ‘uber cool guy’ roles are deeply entrenched in my Gen Z mind. Even so, the casting of every woman character in the film seemed flawless, which amps up my excitement to see who will play the sweet and naïve Manimekalai in PS-2.
Maybe as a corollary to how the women characters drive the story forward, a lot of the changes the director has made to the original story were done to accentuate a particular trait of a character, so that a lot more can be conveyed to the audience about the persona of the woman in question. For example, in the movie, Kundavai arrives uninvited at a private royal meeting, where the chieftains are discussing a way to eliminate the sons of Sundara Chozhar from the competition for the throne. Kundavai instead distracts them by asking them to consider giving the hands of their daughters in marriage to her brothers, thus erasing their very motive to stop the princes from ascending the throne. Though nothing of the sort was written by Kalki, it informs the audience of her political astuteness and influence in the kingdom — deemed rare for a woman at the time.
Likewise, Kundavai’s meeting with her elder brother Aditha Karikalan (Vikram), though not mentioned in the book, helps the audience understand their childhood, and Kundavai’s precociousness in understanding royal power-play. It also offers a peek into both their relationships with Nandini, as well as the role of Madurantaka’s mother Sembiyan Mahadevi (Jayachitra) in the royal family. The addition of a few such scenes to convey to the audience some significant tidbits from the book has gone a long way in improving the movie.
An important, much-admired instance in the book that has been altered in the film is the first meeting of Kundavai and Vandiyathevan (Karthi), which originally happens in the house of an astrologer (a character that is a mainstay throughout the series). But this is not entirely unexpected as the Kudandhai astrologer’s character has been completely taken out of the movie, which is forgivable considering he does not really shape the happenings in the novel in any tangible manner. In fact, doing away with him may have helped with a better creative visualisation of their meeting, making it a picture-perfect meet-cute atop a ‘cruise’ on the Kaveri river. Perhaps an example of “show, don't tell”, but that scene firmly establishes in the minds of the viewers the regality and natural authority of Kundavai, through the way she interacts with Vandiyathevan.
Having said that, not all of the film’s ‘tweakings’ have sat well with the fans of the books. There are other, far bigger changes in the adaptation, the most outrageous of which is the complete alteration of Vanathi's character. If the book Vanathi and the movie Vanathi were to meet, they would be flabbergasted to know that they are actually the same person. Vanathi from the books would probably faint!
Kalki's Vanathi was a gentle girl, almost infirm of the mind and terrified of the smallest things, whereas Mani Ratnam's Vanathi (Sobhita Dhulipala) is a dainty and gala damsel waiting for her ‘prince charming’. Neither does she start off as the meek, soft-hearted character that she is in the book, nor does it look like she has a mentee equation with Kundavai, the way it is in the books. Rather, the movie has almost made her an equal who is cheerful and full of gaiety — dancing and gossiping with Kundavai.
Sobhita Dhulipala as Vanathi and Trisha as Kundavai in PS-1
Despite these alterations, the movie is fraught with symbolisms from the book itself — especially with the characters of Vanathi and Poonguzhali. Introducing Poonguzhali as she emerges from the sea is indicative of her deep connection with the sea, and how she is her truest self while in the waters. Similarly, when Arunmozhi Varman receives the scroll that Vanathi sends over, he notices the elephants decorating its borders, an allusion to their first encounter and romance, probably featured in PS-2.
With the second part hitting the theatres on Friday, April 28, anticipation is high. For starters, I cannot wait to see who plays Manimekalai and how true the character will stay to the book version. While a glimpse of her in PS-1 would have been nice, if Mani Ratnam’s intention was to keep the character a complete surprise, it is understandable.
Music, for PS-1, played a huge role in igniting the curiosity of the audience, regardless of whether they knew the story or not. Those familiar with the book were guessing the settings in which each of the songs would be placed before the film’s release, and ‘Chola Chola’ and ‘Raatchasa Maama’ made for perfect segues in the story, even narrating parts of the story themselves. ‘Alaikadal’, which introduced Poonguzhali’s character, had the onus of letting us peek into her mind from time to time as Kalki did in his novel, something that the film would have otherwise not been able to do. Be it through the lyrics or its slightly melancholic tune, the song conveys to us the depth of Poonguzhali’s character and her slightly misanthropic nature.
Those familiar with the storyline are now playing the same guessing game with PS-2, albeit with less certainty. PS-2’s songs seem more like placeholders that set the tone and stage for particular events, but whether this is true remains to be seen.
As the D-Day draws closer, we get back to the questions PS-1 left us with — Is the entire story about a petty power struggle for the throne? Is there more to Nandini’s oath of vengeance over Veerapandiyan’s murder? Between Vanathi and Poonguzhali, who will win the prince’s love (and the throne)? And now, PS-2’s trailer has left us reeling in suspense, with most snippets being hard to make sense of. Who is Nandini’s older-looking doppelganger, and how does she fit into the scheme of things? And leave alone the pursuit of an able king, will the women who had always desired the Chola throne get to experience that regal seat? We will soon find out!
Watch PS-2 trailer here:
Madhumita Mohan is an undergraduate Economics student by day and voracious reader by night, who turns writer on the weekends. Based out of Chennai, she can’t get enough of Madras’s beaches and Tamil music, and is often found humming a good tune. Her writings can be read here.