Ponniyan Selvan -- a review

[timmy]

Last night, the Wife and I watched Ponniyan Selvan. There is such a difference between good movies, when one is based on a sound story, and this was a good example. I liked Ponniyan Selvan better than movies like the Baahubali series, Jodhaa-Akbar, and such. The plot is more complex than just "good guys vs bad guys" in that there are a number of groups which have their own motivations and pull the storyline in different and unexpected directions. (I'm trying to say what I like about the movie without giving plot points away.)

The sets are lush and great to look at and the AR Rahman music comes through very nicely here. I enjoyed the dance and music routines. I'd only point out in this regard the lack of lead actor/actress voice over solos and duets, but it seems as if the era of Lata Mangeshkars and Kishore Kumars is gone forever, sadly.

I especially liked the aspect of the continuing "duel" between Aishwarya Rai/Nandini and Trisha/Kundhavai Devi, which gives added depth to the story and is a great relief from having only the usual good guy-bad guy sword duel. With Aishwarya, it is interesting, because when watching movies like Devdas, I thought that, despite the passage of years, Madhuri still looked great next to Aishwarya (I still think that way, as Madhuri is a particular favorite of mine) and now the situation is similar when an older Aishwarya is in scenes with Trisha. (To bad that there wasn't a Dola Re Dola dance scene with Aishwarya and Trisha like Paro and Chandramukhi in Devdas, though! I guess those days are done too! Just like the guys had sword duels, I loved the dance duels like Vyjayanthimala and Madhavi in Amrapali -- with the Lata Mangeshkar voice over! Movies like that glow down through the years to us, don't they?) Anyhow, on the music and dance aspect, I loved AR Rahman, but wish that his part would have had more weight. For instance, a good solo or duet cold have gone into the flashback scene between Aditha and Nandini.)

Trisha's Kundhavai Devi was great! I also liked the rascal aspect of Karthi's Vallavaraiyan Vanthiyathevan character, which he plays well.

I see Aishwarya's Nandini as similar to Lady Kaede in Kurosawa's Ran, which in turn had similarities to King Lear. (There's just no substitute for a good story with good plot and character development!) Also, like Ran, there's the comparison between the character of the brothers. John Ford said that there were few things more beautiful that filming horses running, and the scenes where Vallavaraiyan Vanthiyathevan rides through the Lanka jungle, along with Arunmozhi Varman and Poonguzhali on the elephant with the Pandya assassins after them made me think of Credence Clearwater Revival's "Run Through the Jungle." These were nicely done scenes.

I have waited a long time to see this movie since I heard about it being made a long time ago (as you might guess from my avatar!). I especially like the interplay with real history. I enjoyed it very much and can't wait for Part 2 to come out later this year.

[siddharthamahavira]

I also watched it with my wife and my two year kid on Amazon Prime. We also watched Qala and Top Gun: Maverick.

PS is a good one. The musical and dance sequences are quite creative. My wife became a fan and eagerly awaits the sequel.

Incidentally, I too had a similar opinion of Aish alongside Madhuri in Devdas, despite most people thinking otherwise (I was a kid then with Madhuri & Raveena two favs). Though as I grew older, I appreciated the more refined beauty of Aish better. Today's heroines don't come beautiful like them anymore.

Qala is a quite an artful throwback to the era bygone. The film's pallette is retro and some of the songs (especially Shauq) are so masterfully done that it is hard to think of it as a 2020s creation. Babil Khan seems to be worthy of his lineage as the son of Late Irrfan Khan and Tripti Dhimri is great as usual.

The Topgun Maverick enthralled me the best. It is an exemplary ode to the childhood thrills of 90s, the era of F15s, F18s, MiGs, and Su27s, the late 80s and early 90s when the first part was a raging cult. Much as the age of dogfights and planes capable of that comes to an end due to the succession of technology, the charismatic Tom Cruise hands over the reigns to a younger breed of pilots to guard the skies in an audacious show of skill. A most worthy sequel I would say.

I've waved goodbye to Federer, the GOAT. Sachin, Mahi, Yuvraj are all retired. Ronaldo is bowing out, and Messi the great just won his last world Cup. I've also said the final goodbye to my beloved Nani. The mornings filled with Ramcharitmanas broadcast on Nana's radio are long gone too. Lata ji is no more too. Dadi has grown too old to administer the farm house so well, and so are her companions. Terminator won't be back anymore as well. Daniel Craig just finished up his last Bond movie last year.

As all the icons and symbols that I grew up adoring come to a conclusion, there is a melancholic longing for the times gone by. Accompanied by a sense of being out of sync with the current times. I am just 30.

[timmy]

Qala: Thanks for the tip! I will check it out. It looks good.

Aishwarya & Madhuri: I get your point. For me, it's not only about looks, acting and especially dance comes into it. Aishwarya can dance, for sure. But when I watch, Madhuri can dance, if you see my point. This is the same with Vyjayanthimala: she, too, can dance. But if I leave dancing and just go by acting and looks, my personal tastes go to Waheeda Rehman in Pyassa. I very much like that movie!

Part of all of this that you mention is, I think, the changing tastes in style that inevitably occur. So much today has become "Hollywoodized" and this has been a trend not to my liking. When you said "it is hard to think of it as a 2020s creation," that caught my eye, for sure!

Thanks again for the tip. May I offer you a tip in the spirit of "one good turn deserves another"? Try out Andha Naal with Sivaji Ganesan when you get the chance. This would illustrate what I'm trying to say with regard to changing tastes. That man could act, something that isn't so common today.