Ever since its publication, a film adaptation of the novel Ponniyin Selvan had been explored by several Tamil filmmakers, including an attempt by M. G. Ramachandran in the late 1950s; however, it never materialised. Decades later, Ratnam attempted to adapt the novel in the late-1980s and early-2010s but was unsuccessful due to financial constraints. He revived the effort in January 2019, after Lyca agreed to fund the film. Following several changes in cast and crew, production of Ponniyin Selvan began in December 2019 and concluded in September 2021, halting twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was shot in various locations across India, with a few sequences in Thailand. It was originally intended to be a single film but was split into two parts.
In the 10th century, Emperor Parantaka II of the Chola Empire reigns prosperously in South India while his sons Aditha Karikalan and Arulmozhi Varman aka Ponniyin Selvan are heading their conquests respectively for the empire at Kanchi and Lanka. After winning the battle against Rashtrakutas, Aditha Karikalan dispatches his trusted associate and the Vaanar clan's prince Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan to go to Kadambur and investigate and subsequently pass on the information to his sister Princess Kundavai and Sundara Chozhar as he sensed something was amiss with his courtiers. Vandiyadevan encounters a VaishnaviteAzhwarkkadiyan Nambi before arriving at the fortress of Kadambur, where all the ministers have gathered. Vandiyadevan finds his way into the fortress using his companionship with Kadambur's prince Kandhamaran and overhears a conspiracy devised by the minister of finance and treasurer Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar and other ministers in a meeting to resist Aditha Karikalan from ascending the throne and install his uncle Madhuranthaka Chola on it.
Vandiyadevan witnesses Nambi spying over the conference and after exiting from the fortress, he confronts Nambi on a boat making him disclose that he was there to find his foster sister Nandini, who mysteriously disappeared from the house in his absence and later, married a much older Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar. Vandiyadevan later interrupts a convoy of Nandini and informs the latter that he is Nambi's acquaintance and would like to deliver her a message from him, intending to gain access to the palace of royalty in Thanjavur bypassing Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar's younger brother Chinna Pazhuvettaraiyar. Nandini gives him a ring that would help him enter the palace and leaves; Chinna Pazhuvettaraiyar, the fort's chief-in-charge permits Vandiyadevan as the latter presents the ring and claims that it was given to him by Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar. Vandiyadevan meets Sundara Chozhar and discloses to him about the conspirators but Chinna Pazhuvettaraiyar intervenes and attempts to have him apprehended. Vandiyadevan evades and out of misinterpretation, he is taken to Nandini's chamber where she discovers his motives for meeting Kundavai with Aditha Karikalan's message and asks him to bring the reply to her first. He obliges and is shown a secret tunnel out of the palace.
Vandiyadevan meets Kundavai in Pazhayarai through a friend and flower seller Sendhan Amudhan and relays the information about the scheme against the royalty to her. She issues an order to him to bring Ponniyin Selvan back from Lanka and he complies. Madhuranthaka's mother Sembiyan Madevi asks Madhuranthaka to desist plotting against Sundara Chozhar and his heirs but is rebuffed. Aditha Karikalan narrates to his companion Parthibendran Pallavan that he was madly in love with every small detail of Nandini in his teenage years and describes how beautifully she was made, similar to a spotless flower, and he wanted to marry her, but she was not accepted to be the prospective queen of the empire as she is an orphan who sings in the temple and despite being warned from his father he continued to love her and one day she is banished from the city. He explains to Parthibendran Pallavan that it's the most painful thing he has ever faced in his life, which made him indulge more and more in war, and he became ruthless in order to overcome the pain of separation from her. Aditha Karikalan happened to meet her after several years, tending to his enemy Veerapandiyan, Nandini's father figure. Infuriated, he beheaded Veerapandiyan ruthlessly despite Nandini pleading with him to spare his life, folding her palms and bowing on the floor before him, and presently, emphasizes that Nandini married Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar to take revenge against the Chola Empire.
Ponniyin Selvan emerges victorious in a battle against Raja Mahinda of Lanka while Vandiyadevan engages a rowing woman Poonguzhali (Samuthirakumari) to take him to Lanka and discovers that she admires Ponniyin Selvan and harbors feelings for him. Divulged to be a spy of Sundara Chozhar's well-wisher Prime minister Aniruddha Brahmarayar, Nambi arrives in Lanka and chances upon Vandiyadevan. While Vandiyadevan transmits messages for Ponniyin Selvan from Kundavai and Vaanathi (Princess of Kodumbalur) who is expected to marry him, Nambi suggests that it is dangerous for Ponniyin Selvan to return. Kundavai returns to Thanjavur while Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar and other ministers manipulate Sundara Chozhar into dispatching a convoy to bring Ponniyin Selvan back to Thanjavur as a prisoner for rejecting the throne of Ashoka's daughter, offered to him by Buddhist monks. Sundara Chozhar commands Kundavai to convince Aditha Karikalan and return with him to Thanjavur as it would be inappropriate for the crown prince to be away from the capital.
In Lanka, meanwhile, Pandya Aabathudavigal, a group of soldiers headed by Ravi Dasan, devoted to Pandya dynasty and avenging the death of their ruler Veerapandiyan, attack Nambi, Ponniyin Selvan, and Vandiyadevan intending to assassinate the former. However, they are resisted by Oomai Rani, a veiled woman; Ponniyin Selvan claims that she was the one who rescued him from drowning in the river Ponni when he was a child. Kundavai and Vaanathi make it to Kanchi and Kundavai keeps persuading Aditha Karikalan to return, frustrated Aditha Karikalan tells her that she (Kundavai) is the reason why he doesn't want to come to Kanchi as he don't want to face Nandini for his ruthless behavior towards the girl he loved more than his life. He further adds that the separation from Nandini had turned him into a monster, and he killed Veera Pandiyan mercilessly, without drawing towards Nandini's tears to spare his life. He tells her she taunts him every day with the image of folding hands in front of him, begging to spare Veera Pandyas life. Kundavai states that her decision of having Nandini banished from the city was for the dynasty's good but he refuses to agree and states she is jealous of Nandini's beauty and intelligence, he disagress to come to Kanchi and doesn't oblige to her requests. Meanwhile, a member of Pandya Aabathudavigal reaches Mahinda and gains from him, an army to accomplish the group's plan of assassinating Ponniyin Selvan. Poonguzhali chances upon the convoy, which is assigned on arresting Ponniyin Selvan, and realizing that it was sent by Pazhuvettaraiyar, she senses a conspiracy and refuses to disclose Ponniyin Selvan's details. She reveals the convoy to Ponniyin Selvan, Vandiyadevan, Nambi, Pallavan (who was sent by Aditha Karikalan to Ponniyin Selvan), and Periya Velar, Vaanathi's uncle.
His well-wishers repudiate sending him to the convoy but deciding to abide by his father's orders, Ponniyin Selvan seeks the help of Poonguzhali to meet the convoy and disguises himself as a mahout, while making Vandiyadevan look like a prince. Poonguzhali and Ponniyin Selvan discover that the convoy is ambushed by Pandya Aabathudavigal, who seizes Vandiyadevan, misunderstanding him to be Ponniyin Selvan. Intending to save Vandiyadevan, Ponniyin Selvan heads to the sailing ship of Pandya Aabathudavigal and fights the latter but the ship eventually drowns in the sea due to a storm while a helpless Poonguzhali tries to rescue them. Ponniyin Selvan and Vandiyadevan are presumed to be dead and the news is relayed to Sundara Chozhar, Kundavai, and Aditha Karikalan who are all devastated. Vowing to retaliate against his brother's apparent death, Aditha Karikalan sets out to Thanjavur to end the deviously deceptive Nandhini. Meanwhile, Oomai Rani, disclosed to be a lookalike of Nandini, deeply dives into the sea and intends to protect Ponniyin Selvan.
The film score and soundtrack were composed by Mani Ratnam's regular collaborator A. R. Rahman. The audio rights of the film were purchased by Tips.
The soundtrack consists of six original songs composed by A.R.Rahman, namely, "Ponni Nadhi", "Chola Chola", "Ratchasa Maamaney", "Sol", "Alaikadal" and "Devaralan Aattam". Lyrics were written by Ilango Krishnan, Kabilan, Krithika Nelson and Siva Ananth in the Tamil version and Mehboob Kotwal, Ananta Sriram, Rafeeq Ahamed and Jayanth Kaikini wrote the song lyrics in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada respectively.
Marketing
Promotional campaign for the film was supposed to begin in July 2022, with the film's teaser trailer planned to be launched at the Brihadisvara Temple in Thanjavur, the city which served as the capital for the Chola Empire.[9] Following the launch event, the team also planned a promotional tour for the film.[9] However, in mid-June 2022, the film's teaser launch was cancelled due to security reasons and post-production delays.[10] The movie team later on decided to have a grand teaser trailer launch event in Chennai as per their previous schedule on 8 July 2022.[11] The film's teaser trailer was released on 8 July 2022 in Tamil and dubbed versions of Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages.[12]
Ponniyin Selvan: I released on 30 September 2022 worldwide. It was released in Tamil along with the dubbed versions of Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam languages.[14] It was previously scheduled to release on summer (May–July) 2022, but was postponed due to production works.[15] It became the first Tamil film to release in IMAX format.[16]
The film's release across Canada was disrupted after large theatre chains Cineplex and Landmark Cinemas refused to exhibit the film due to ongoing anonymous threats of vandalism if Tamil films were released in their locations. The attacks, which have happened during screenings of Theri (2016) and Kurup (2021), are alleged to have been conducted by owners of Woodside Cinemas and York Cinemas, a local theatre chain in Toronto attempting to hold monopoly of screening Tamil films.[17][18]Ponniyin Selvan: I had a limited Canadian release in select private theatres amidst protection from law enforcement. It was also released in TIFF Bell Lightbox, home of the Toronto International Film Festival, a first for a Tamil film premiere.[19][20]
The digital streaming rights for the film were purchased by Amazon Prime Video for ₹125 crore (US$16 million).[25][26] The film was digitally premiered on Amazon Prime Video from 4 November 2022 in Tamil and dubbed versions of Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages.[27][28] The Hindi dubbed version was released on 26 November 2022 on the platform.[29][30]
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 15 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.4/10.[31]Ponniyin Selvan: I met with critical acclaim, with emphasis on the direction, musical score, technical aspects, and the cast's performances (with some reviews praising Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha, Jayaram and entire cast performances).[32][33][34]
Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The Indian Express rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Mani Ratnam understands Kalki's novel is a mainstream page-turner, so he retains its flavour and neither intellectualises it nor dumbs it down".[35] Sonil Dedhia of News 18 rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ponniyan Selvan 1 is an engaging, involving movie-going experience, and proves once again why Mani Ratnam is one of India's finest filmmakers".[36] Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "The film does not try to amplify any aspect of the novel unnecessarily to fit a narrative that might be the flavour of the season. In fact, it downplays the praise that Kalki lavished on the Chola Empire".[37] Stutee Ghosh of The Quint rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ponniyin Selvan 1 is grand and royal but unlike the bombastic, hyper-masculine world we are used to seeing these days with overwhelming VFX and CGI, here Mani Ratnam's hold on the narrative never slips".[38] Sukanya Verma of Rediff rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Mani Ratnam's eye for intimacy, enigma, humour and menace bring out the glory of its source and all the imagination in store. One seldom thinks of Mani Ratnam's excellence in terms of VFX but Ponniyin Selvan: 1 goes full steam".[39]
Krishna Selvaseelan of Tamil Guardian rated the film 4.5 out of 5 stars, writing, “The visuals are stunning. Ravi Varman captures the world of 10th century Thamizhakam (and its subcontinent) expertly, bringing life to the world.”[40] Ritika Handoo of Zee News rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "The beauty of Part one of the two-part film lies in the fact that Mani Ratnam has not only made the story concise but has managed to do so carefully, taking adequate care not to dilute the essence of the novel or its charm".[41] Sudhir Srinivasan of Cinema Express rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Perhaps the foremost pleasure of a Mani Ratnam film is in experiencing his wizardry over the medium. We see plenty of evidence of this in Ponniyin Selvan 1".[42]Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "The sprawling, spectacularly mounted film is an ambitious, near-flawless adaptation of a much-loved literary work".[43] Devesh Sharma of Filmfare rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Watch the film for its visual grandeur, epic action sequences and some sublime acting by the entire cast".[44] Sanjana Deshpande of The Free Press Journal rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "the cherry on top of the cake was the cinematography by Ravi Varman. He catches the attention of the audience and never lets it go. Each shot is carefully placed and executed. There's so much nuance in the film that is hard to put down in words, it is best experienced!".[45]IANS rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Mani Ratnam's 'Ponniyin Selvan – Part I' is a masterpiece that deserves all your adulation and love".[46]
M. Suganth of The Times of India rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Mani Ratnam's adaptation of Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan is spectacular", adding "Mani Ratnam finally brings the dream alive with this spectacular adaptation that superbly captures the intrigue, thrills and page-turning quality of the books."[47] Soumyabrata Gupta of Zoom rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Perhaps not a film for the masses, Ponniyin Selvan 1 will ultimately be a cult classic, in time".[48] Vivek M V of Deccan Herald rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ponniyin Selvan is a winner because Ratnam shows a new way to make epic films".[49] Priyanka Sundar of Firstpost rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and termed it as a "brilliant experience" which doesn't chase the same high as other recent commercial films did. The spectacle lies in the setting and the story of the film that unravels beautifully.[50] Bharathi Pradhan of Lehren rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and termed the film as "Royal and Spectacular".[51] Anupama Subramanian of Deccan Chronicle rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ponniyin Selvan is a bit like Game of Thrones without as much grisly violence. The polished cast and crew will keep you engaged".[52] Movie Herald's Felix said 'Glorious attempt which was effective but too delicate'[53]
Janani K of India Today rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Technically, Ponniyin Selvan is top-notch. Be it Ravi Varman's brilliant cinematography or AR Rahman's excellent score, the film sucks us into the world that Mani Ratnam has created with so much detailing."[54]The Hans India rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "PS 1 is a fascinating drama narrating an epic historical story. Mani Ratnam brought the best of everything on screen for his dream project. The casting and AR Rahman's background score stand as the main highlights of the film. PS 1 is more about drama and less about action"[55] Lakshmi Subramanian of The Week rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Kalki's book gets Mani Ratnam's royal cinematic touch but lacks powerful storytelling".[56] Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times stated "Mani Ratnam has managed the unthinkable—adapt the literary classic with finesse and impact. All actors do their parts well but Aishwarya Rai is a revelation".[57] Likewise, Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Hindu gave the film a positive review, noting that an "epic story gets Mani Ratnam's royal treatment", while adding "Kalki's source material of PS:1 is rich with myriad characters, and Mani Ratnam gleefully picks them all up to give it a cinematic touch, thanks to some powerhouse performances from his all-star cast".[58]
Box office
The film earned around ₹80 crore (US$10 million) on its opening day worldwide and debuted at the top of box offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Australia, while it reached the top 3 in the United States.[59] By its third day, the film earned around ₹80 crore (US$10 million) taking its first weekend worldwide collection to ₹230 crore (US$29 million).[60][61][62] The film performed exceptionally well in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and overseas market, but performed average in Karnataka, the Telugu states, and the Hindi belt. The dubbed Hindi version grossed ₹22 crore (US$2.8 million) at the domestic box office.[63] Nonetheless, the film emerged as the highest grossing Tamil movie in Malaysia, Singapore, United States, Australia and the 5th highest grossing Indian movie in the US at that time.[64]
On 17 September 2022, Ratnam in a press meet, confirmed that Ponniyin Selvan: II (PS:2) would be released in six to nine months after the theatrical release of Ponniyin Selvan: I.[75] On 28 December 2022, it was revealed by the unit that PS:2 would be releasing on 28 April 2023.[76]
Notes
^The box office estimates by different publications are: ₹450 crore by Zee News,[2]₹480 crore by Pinkvilla,[3]₹500 crore by Hindustan Times.[4]
^Karthi was nominated for two films – Ponniyin Selvan: I and Sardar
^Vikram was nominated for three films – Ponniyin Selvan: I, Mahaan and Cobra
