Ponniyin Selvan 1 Review &box office (400cr movie) (DT Note pg22) - Page 29

The makers should step up and promote well in the Hindi belt for part two. Such a grand opportunity wasted.

Originally posted by: pathaka

I saw it on the first day …couldn’t review it then coz had other stuff going on but heres the thoughts

I didn’t read the novel nor had much idea abt the story …I just read up on the chola family tree before going in and read a character synopsis of ps ….

As for the movie

Didn’t like it

Gr8 source material, shabby and rushed execution

Firstly there is in information overload ….several things that need time to vest are rushed over ….and unnecessary time is spent on comedy scenes or chases or badly choreographed action ….this is meant to be a drama ….gimme the drama bro

Sundara chola and his 3 kids are established but it is never setup for us to invest in or root for them

Poor karthi keeps swinging from one place to the other conveying messages introducing himself for the 500th time it gets tiring after a point ….granted he’s the protagonist but the scenes go by so quick there is no development or characters …

Kundavai is intelligent we are told …we barely see it

Ash is beautiful we are told ..ok gr8…where is the expression on the face ?

Ash and kundavai have tension we are told ….there is one scene between with long winded dialogues abt beauty and that’s it
Their rivalry isn’t established properly ….sundara chola and his fam aren’t setup ….sobita has a 4 min song that adds no value, and neither does her character …like I literally don’t care abt the songs ….they weren’t shot or choreographed in a special way or weren’t part or the narrative (except ponni nadhi)

Jayam Ravi is a wrong choice for the title role ….should have given it to a charismatic young actor like dulquer or Nivin pauly

He brought no screen presence

Ash and Trish are pretty …let’s leave at that coz there isn’t much else

Vikram is usual vikram …I’ve seen him do this and so this better a 1000 times in the past …

Karthi is the star here tbh …he carried this thing and he’s the only one I ended up caring abt when he was drowning in the sea ….

Arr score was disappointing ….except the boat song nothing struck…and the score sometimes was borderline like a tv serial (dhoom tanananna dhoom tananana when ash comes on)

It’s like mani ratnam dragged it but also rushed it ….dragged it with his lack of emotional connect and random stringing of scenes which are more like a series of events …like don’t care at all for anyone really

And rushed it by dumping so much info in there in exposition which sure needed more time to marinate …

This would have worked better as a tv series ….the screenplay or rather the adapted screenplay here is shabby and dosent work for film based story telling (which needs highs and lows, pace and tempo )

What a frustrating movie …uggh

Agree with you In parts. It's too much information and too much repetition of karthi introducing himself.

Too long action and chase sequences. Too many characters.

I cared less about Vanathi and her dancing.

The men and Aish were wonderful. I wish kundavai doe more tham look pretty in the next part.

https://twitter.com/SoundPastaIndia/status/1582128706499145729?t=r3StdPJb3W2mB1UmfxLm_A&s=19

https://twitter.com/sekartweets/status/1582644804650864641?t=7GmufUFJauuK8iep4UMOzw&s=19

Originally posted by: pathaka

I saw it on the first day …couldn’t review it then coz had other stuff going on but heres the thoughts

I didn’t read the novel nor had much idea abt the story …I just read up on the chola family tree before going in and read a character synopsis of ps ….

As for the movie

Didn’t like it

Gr8 source material, shabby and rushed execution

Firstly there is in information overload ….several things that need time to vest are rushed over ….and unnecessary time is spent on comedy scenes or chases or badly choreographed action ….this is meant to be a drama ….gimme the drama bro

Sundara chola and his 3 kids are established but it is never setup for us to invest in or root for them

Poor karthi keeps swinging from one place to the other conveying messages introducing himself for the 500th time it gets tiring after a point ….granted he’s the protagonist but the scenes go by so quick there is no development or characters …

Kundavai is intelligent we are told …we barely see it

Ash is beautiful we are told ..ok gr8…where is the expression on the face ?

Ash and kundavai have tension we are told ….there is one scene between with long winded dialogues abt beauty and that’s it
Their rivalry isn’t established properly ….sundara chola and his fam aren’t setup ….sobita has a 4 min song that adds no value, and neither does her character …like I literally don’t care abt the songs ….they weren’t shot or choreographed in a special way or weren’t part or the narrative (except ponni nadhi)

Jayam Ravi is a wrong choice for the title role ….should have given it to a charismatic young actor like dulquer or Nivin pauly

He brought no screen presence

Ash and Trish are pretty …let’s leave at that coz there isn’t much else

Vikram is usual vikram …I’ve seen him do this and so this better a 1000 times in the past …

Karthi is the star here tbh …he carried this thing and he’s the only one I ended up caring abt when he was drowning in the sea ….

Arr score was disappointing ….except the boat song nothing struck…and the score sometimes was borderline like a tv serial (dhoom tanananna dhoom tananana when ash comes on)

It’s like mani ratnam dragged it but also rushed it ….dragged it with his lack of emotional connect and random stringing of scenes which are more like a series of events …like don’t care at all for anyone really

And rushed it by dumping so much info in there in exposition which sure needed more time to marinate …

This would have worked better as a tv series ….the screenplay or rather the adapted screenplay here is shabby and dosent work for film based story telling (which needs highs and lows, pace and tempo )

What a frustrating movie …uggh

agree, with all this I was like it is fine on first viewing, but when I recall nothing stays in the mind, dont even know why you should be invested in any of these characters

even a totally linear story like padmavat had a much more engrossing screenplay and pace

it is more like for tamil people the novel has been so close to heart, it seems a more emotional connect

https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/tamil-cinema/ponniyin-selvan-1-box-office-mani-ratnam-s-film-inches-close-to-rs-500-cr-globally-crosses-rs-225-cr-in-tamil-nadu-101666941089428-amp.html

Very happy for Ash 🥳👏

Finally watched this. It was as good as I had hoped. What a movie by Mani.

What a fantastic role for Aishwarya. I didn't imagine her role was central to the story like it was. Vikram was so powerful. Everyone did some of their best work.

But Ash. What a topper to an incredible career!

I saw the film again on OTT.

Typical Mani Ratnam stuff, grows on you. I saw it late night around 2:00 AM when I found out it’s already on Prime. Today, iv already watched the film again.

I know I’ll be watching a few scenes on loop now.

Now this has me very excited for part 2.
ETA - Oh that haunting melody in Ash’s scenes as BGM. My God. *chefs kiss*

Originally posted by: -PoisonIvy-

I saw the film again on OTT.

Where is it streaming?