Ponniyin Selvan 1: Mani Ratnam is neither SS Rajamouli nor Shankar, but he is fearless

Mani Ratnam is not in the Shankar or SS Rajamouli leagues. He can only go to a certain point when it comes to making his movies “commercials.” It’s like there’s an invisible line he shouldn’t cross while pandering to the masses, and he enjoys breaking the formula of balancing art and commerce in mainstream cinema. He is one of the few Indian filmmakers. However, as Mani Ratnam grew older, he began to lean more towards art than commerce (perhaps it started with Ilvar), throwing him off balance. It may have cost him a big opening, but that didn’t stop him from making movies like he did. How do filmmakers like him adjust how they appeal to a wider audience in order to recoup their investment?

Undoubtedly, PS:1 has plenty of moments that any other filmmaker could have used to the full potential of providing spectacle to the masses. But not him.He made sure his big-screen adaptation wasn’t dishonorable Kalki The vast drama of Krishnamurthy.

Mani Ratnam on the set of PS:1.

Mani Ratnam did not write this film as a typical big block movie made in India. I feel like I’m watching a Denis Villeneuve movie. Very good for budget, size and star power. But it doesn’t have the impatience that you typically experience in, say, comic book movies. There is a strong lull in the way the story is constructed. We know it’s storming, but this filmmaker doesn’t want to jump into the fun part without first making the audience understand where these characters are coming from. He doesn’t cover the character’s transformation arc with scenes or long monologues. I will give it to you.

for example, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s nandini have a reputation for being venomous like snakes. Mani Ratnam could have taken an easy way of preying on Nandini’s presumed malice, making it easy for us to choose which side to take. Most of us end up identifying with the “good guy” all the time. Instead, he performs clever sleight of hand, and in several montages of his shots, we get a glimpse of Nandini’s tragic backstory.

Nandini plots to overthrow the Chola Empire and her deception operates on multiple levels. By conventional thinking, she is the villain of the story. But to her fairness, Nandini is more guilty than guilty among those plotting the demise of Sundara Chola’s clan. She was kicked out of Thanjavur at a very young age for falling in love with her heir to the throne, Adisa Kalikaran (Vikram). And later in her life, her presumed lover Veerapandya Katabomman was mercilessly slaughtered in front of her despite her repeated prayers to spare him. Cholas gives her good reason to seek her revenge.

And then there is Trisha’s Kundavai. He seems smart, kind, and politically savvy, but he is prejudiced. “We never knew Nandini of her lineage. I could never allow her to become a queen.

Trisha, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in PS: 1. (Photo: PR Handout)

There’s also this beautifully captured life-changing moment. Adisa tracks her rival to a cabin in the middle of the forest. When he kicks the door open, the image he sees rewires every fiber in his body, turning him into a killing machine. (I don’t know the full story yet, at least for those who haven’t read the 5 books). Adisa decided to kill Katabomman, following his warrior code. But he wasn’t a warrior when he finished Katabomman. He was just a lover who couldn’t see another man in the arms of the woman he loved. Perhaps it is because he knows it in the depths of his heart that he flees from all the king’s comforts to pain, suffering, and death.

Mani Ratnam’s treatment of PS:1 is a milestone in the history of modern Indian blockbuster cinema. He’s changing grammar and redefining the meaning of big-budget spectacle. And you don’t have to blow up every 10 minutes. Mani Ratnam wants to be poetic and wants to reintroduce us to the joy of delayed gratification.

Only a director with nerves of steel can make a movie like this. Let the narrative flow through the gallery without tying or crumpling it. Mani Ratnam is guided not by fear, but by the love of making honest films. he is fearless.