Tag Archives: A.R. Rahman

Ponniyin Selvan: II

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Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 was a sweeping epic tale of kingdoms, war, lost love and treachery, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. I’m happy to report that the second part is even better, although with less focus on big battle scenes and more nail-biting drama. But there are still plenty of sword fights and large-scale action despite the move to add some more emotional and dialogue driven scenes. The scale is just as epic and the scenery and costumes are incredibly stunning. I still haven’t managed to read the books, so can’t comment on how well the film follows the printed word, but as an all-encompassing action story, it completely worked for me.

The story starts with a flashback to happier times for young crown prince Aditya Karikalan (Santhosh) and the orphaned Nandini (Sara Arjun). The music here is simply wonderful and the Santhosh and Sara are both excellent in portraying the story of their romance and Nandini’s betrayal as she falls foul of Aditya’s mother and sister. This early focus on Aditya and Nandini ensures they are always kept in mind as the story moves back to the present day and the question over the fate of Arulmozhi (Jayam Ravi) and Vanthiyathevan (Karthi), lost in a shipwreck during a storm at sea and simultaneous attack by the Pandiya rebels. The betrayal and revenge featured at the start also sets the tone for the rest of the film as the story of Pandya vengeance and treason by the Chola chieftains threatens Sundara Chola and his empire. But behind the action there is always the doomed romance between Aditya and Nandini that taints everyone it touches. It also serves to explain exactly why Aditya (Vikram) is so tortured by memories of Nandini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) and his rage when he found her with the dying Veerapandiyan (Nasser).

All the threads start coming together as the various plots to remove the Cholas from power reach fruition. The Pandya rebels seem to be everywhere – they have infiltrated every palace and seem numerous in the city, all of which seems amazing since originally there didn’t seem to be quite so many of them. Even Vanthiyathevan becomes more serious as he tries to warn Aditya away from meeting with Nandini. The warnings are as clear as the bright red light in the sky portends doom, but both Arumozhi and Aditya prefer to face their enemies head on, which ensures plenty of excellent and well-choreographed fight scenes as they dodge each assassination attempt.

Throughout all the treachery and sneak attacks by the Pandyas, the tension between Aditya and Nandini is never far away. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is simply magnificent here in the role of Nandini, and says so much with her body language alone. There is her deep and abiding love for Aditya, despite his actions when he slaughtered the Veerapandiyan in front of her eyes and her entreaties to stay his sword. There is also her deep hatred for the Chola royal family, and her promise to the Pandya King to look after his son as her brother that add spice to her interactions with Kundavai (Trisha) and her mother Vaanavan Mahadevi (Vidhya Subramanian). Nandini’s conversations with the Pandya leader are sharp and filled with her hate, but the final climax with Aditya is absolutely brilliant with Aishwarya perfect in the depth and range of emotions she shows. Thankfully Vikram has calmed down after his excesses in PS1, and here his betrayal of a man tortured by his memories is spot on, and just unhinged enough to understand his behaviour throughout the film. It’s fantastic, and really very sad, made even more dramatic by the intense close-ups and claustrophobic feel of the final encounter between the two.

Less successful is Aishwarya’s portrayal of Mandakini/Oomai Rani, the woman in the Sri Lankan forests who repeatedly saves Arulmozhi. Since Mandakini’s back story is only revealed at the end, her nervous flitting around the palace seems out of place. With so little to work with Aishwarya appears washed out and tired rather than ethereal and mysterious, which I suspect was more how Mandakini was supposed to appear. There is also a lot less of Trisha too, which is a shame as I think she nails the role of Kundavai. However her big romantic scene with Karthi is amazing and worth every second of screentime. Their chemistry, while more subtle than that between Aditya and Nandini, packs just as much of a punch. I loved both of these actors here and would love to see a spin-off focusing on just these two.

The rest of the support cast of thousands are all just as good as in PS1. There is no-one who seems miscast and all the various warriors, chieftains, rebels and assorted palace staff all excel in their roles and bring the story to life. A.R.Rahman’s music is just as perfect and enhances every aspect of the film, whether action, romance or drama. I especially love Chinnanjiru Nilave which plays during the romance of the young Aditya and Nandini, but I can’t find the video song. So instead here is the excellent Veera Raja Veera pictured on Aditya and the absolutely stunning Vaanathi (Sobhita Dhulipala).

The film looks amazing too. Ravi Varman’s cinematography keeps the film feeling real despite the often glamorous settings and historical action sequences. You can almost smell the blood and sweat in the battle scenes, while the palaces scenes bring the essence of perfume and lamp oil. The juxtaposition of battle and intrigue is smoothly captured while Mani Ratnam’s strength lies in bringing out the emotion behind every scene.

I loved this film. Every single scene is amazing and the whole is perfectly pieced together. Every character is beautifully realised, so that even those who only appear for a brief moment are still seen as important to the story and have a reason to be there. With fantastic performances from the whole cast, the mesmerising soundtrack and sublime images, this is surely the best film of the year. 5 stars!

Ponniyin Selvan 1

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I did manage to catch PS1 in the cinema (definitely the best way to watch the film), but wanted to watch it again before posting this review. I loved the epic scale, the fantastic costumes and found the story to be relatively easy to follow, despite the large number of characters and location shifts. There is action, intrigue, double-crosses, mystery and suspense as well as the amazing costumes and jewellery – all well worth the 2 hour 47 minute run time and I can’t wait for Part 2!

The story is an adaptation by Mani Ratnam and Elango Kumaravel of the novel Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki Krishnamurthy. As I haven’t read the book, I can’t comment on whether the plot has been changed much, but I suspect that the story has been simplified to make it fit into 2 parts. It’s still pretty clear what’s going on and who’s who, thanks to the defining performances from the stellar cast line-up. The story starts with a quick overview of the Chola dynasty, their defeat of the Pandyas and the appearance of a shooting star in the sky, which apparently signals bad news for the current royal family. After winning his latest battle, the crown prince, Aditha Karikalan (Vikram) sends Vallavaraiyan Vanthiyathevan (Karthi) on a mission to spy on officials meeting at Kadambur palace and report back to the emperor Sundara Chola (Prakash Raj) and Aditha’s sister, the princess Kundavai Devi (Trisha). Vallavaraiyan discovers the chancellor of the Chola kingdom Periya Pazhuvettarayar (R. Sarathkumar) is involved in a conspiracy to overthrow Sundar and crown his cousin Madhurantakan (Rahman) emperor instead. That’s a lot of long names, but the characters are all so different, that keeping them all straight isn’t as difficult as it may seem!

Pazhuvettarayar is married to Nandini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), an acclaimed beauty who was previously in love with Aditha. Nandini has her own motives and plans to overthrow the Chola empire, but these are much more convoluted than those of her husband and she has allies such as Ravidasan (Kishore), the leader of the exiled Pandya’s. Also involved is Pazhuvettarayar’s brother Chinna Pazhuvettarayar (R. Parthiban), who is in charge of the fort in Thanjavur and who tries to capture Vallavaraiyan when he meets with the king.

Vallavaraiyan is entranced by Kundavai Devi, but she immediately sends him off to Lanka to bring the younger prince Arulmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi) aka Ponniyin Selvan back to Thanjavur. This involves Vallavaraiyan hitching a ride with Poonguzhali (Aishwarya Lekshmi) across the sea and then fighting with the prince before finally  helping Arulmozhi as he evades Pandya assassins to reach the boat sent by his father to bring Arulmozhi home. Along the way Vallavaraiyan is helped by a poet and temple flower seller, Sendhan (Ashwin Kakumanu) and the rather eccentric Thirumalaiappan (Jayaram). There are various other minor characters who add yet more detail and background into the plot, including chieftains, fiancées, defeated princes and various soldiers, servants, government officials and friends of the main characters. It does take a second watch to sort out exactly who everyone is, but Aditha, Arulmozhi, Vallavaraiyan, Kundavai and Nandini are the main players in this first part of the story.

What I really liked about PS1 is how real everything appears. Unlike the fairytale landscapes of Baahubali or sanitised forts in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s films, here everything seems plausible and historical rather than imagined. The battles are sweaty and bloody, while the fortifications look as if they were made to withstand armies and sieges. It’s more Aragorn in LOTR than Ranveer Singh in Bajirao Mastani. The costumes though are detailed and intricate with plenty of shine and shimmer as you’d expect from a story about kings and their empire. The jewellery in particular is outstanding and just gorgeous. At times I wondered just how Aishwarya and Trisha were managing to walk with all that hardware, but it does give them both a very regal appearance. The hairstyles too are amazing and even the men get in on the costume action with their fancy armour and weaponry.

What really stands out though are the performances, especially the two main female leads and Karthi. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is always good with the right director, and here she is perfect as a woman in conflict with herself. It’s clear that she is suffering and that when she says she has deep wounds, we can see that these are with her all the time. The conflict between her previous love for Aditha, her marriage to Pazhuvettarayar and her commitment to the Pandya’s seems impossible to resolve and Aishwarya ensures this is always present as a shadow across her face every time she is on screen. Her eyes show she is a woman in pain, internally conflicted and caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. When Aishwarya is good, she’s very, very good, and here she delivers in every scene. Trisha too is excellent as Kundavai Devi. She’s regal but still able to unbend when speaking to her friends, and conveys the right amount of political savvy that makes her vitally important to the kingdom. There is a wonderful scene when Kundavai returns to Thanjavur and meets Nandini, where the power play between the two in just a few moments ensures we all know who is really in control of the empire, albeit working behind the scene.

I expect Karthi to be good, but here he is outstanding as the rather irreverent friend trying to help Aditha but enjoying himself along the way. He has a great relationship with his horse, and the comedy between Vallavaraiyan, his horse Semba and chance met Thirumalaiappan provides excellent contrast to the more serious scenes with Aditha, his close friend Parthibendran (Vikram Prabhu) and Arulmozhi. Karthi is great in the action scenes but even better in his interactions with Kundavai and Arulmozhi and also with Nandini. He hits just the right mix of action, sarcasm, comedy and quick witted political savvy making sure that Vallavaraiyan is an intriguing character, and in many ways more interesting than the two princes. Although Jayam Ravi is good as Arulmozhi, it’s a more serious role and he doesn’t have quite the same impact as Karthi here. I am expecting more in Part 2, given the film bears his name. As Aditha, Vikram on the other hand vacillates between berserker warrior and manically depressed jilted lover as he thinks about Nandini and their broken relationship. At times he’s brilliant, but then he starts chewing the scenery again, and it’s hard to take Aditha’s pain as seriously as that of Nandini. Vikram is still very good, just a little too OTT at times, and hopefully will be more retrained in the second half – or just stick to the action!

The action sequences are exhilarating and mostly a lot of fun. Battles are fought between armies but also on board ships, in chase sequences and on elephant and horseback. There are loads of actions scenes too, so Mani Ratnam seems to have thrown in every kind of battle you can think of, and almost every single weapon as well. The choreography is well done to keep the action exciting, even though we expect the good guys to win. But there is still plenty of tension and the outcome isn’t always quite as expected.

I also really liked A.R. Rahman’s music, mostly the songs but the background music was also good and effective throughout the film. This is probably my favourite.

When you start with a good story, it should make a good film, but not everyone can manage to take such a complex tale and turn it into a blockbuster. Mani Ratnam can and every aspect of this film shows his skill. The story moves on at a fast pace, the characters are all clear with well described motivations, and even the intrigue is dealt with appropriately so that not everything is revealed by the end of the film. I loved every aspect of the film and I hope part 2 is just as exciting. 4½ stars

Atrangi Re

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So far I haven’t been a huge fan of Aanand L. Rai’s films but Dhanush is a big draw card (and Raanjhaana wasn’t completely awful), so I thought I’d try Atrangi Re. But again, I’m left thinking that there is too much that is problematic for me to really enjoy the film. There is a lot that works well, but sadly, there is a lot more that doesn’t. The good is the music, most of the first half and Dhanush, who really is excellent despite playing a rather shady character. The film also looks great and it’s a shame I couldn’t see it on the big screen since the sets and the staging are amazing. But the bad unfortunately hits around the end of the first half, and from then on, it’s frustrating to watch some good ideas smothered under the weight of poor portrayal. Be warned that there are spoilers here as it’s difficult to discuss the problems without revealing the twist in the film, so if you don’t want to know the major twist, skip past the pictures of kittens when we get to that part!

The film starts with Rinku (Sara Ali Khan) running from her abusive family to elope with her Muslim boyfriend, whose name she steadfastly refuses to reveal. The family catch her at the train station where Vishu (Dhanush) and his friend MS (Ashish Verma) have arrived for a medical camp and they see the drama unfold. To solve the problem of Rinku continually trying to elope, her grandmother Rajjo (Seema Biswas) decrees that the family must kidnap a groom so that they can get rid Rinku and all the trouble she causes. But the family mistakenly kidnap Vishu who is supposed to be getting engaged himself to the daughter of his College Dean in just a few days. After being drugged though the wedding, Rinku’s family put the newlyweds on the train to Delhi, where Vishu is studying to be a surgeon. Luckily for Rinku, she finds out about Vishu’s upcoming engagement which give her the perfect opportunity to leave him for her Sajjad (Akshay Kumar), the long standing fiancé whose name she reveals to Vishu.

So far so good and the confusions and potential love triangle are (mostly) dealt with well. Dhanush is excellent as the earnest and slightly nerdy doctor, but Sara Ali Khan’s Rinku comes across as more forced and manic rather than someone desperate to escape an intolerable situation. But once in Delhi, the true situation is revealed and that’s where the film slides off the rails. 

Despite having a fiancée at home in Chennai, Vishnu seems to fall instantly in love with Rinku even though there is no real reason for him to do so. Vishu knows about Sajjid immediately after the forced marriage as Rinku immediately tells him about her fiancé while Vishu seems to be happy with his fiancée Mandy (Dimple Hayathi) given his many attempts to call her while in Bihar. At the very least, as a Tamilian she is at least able to speak the same language. On that point, I do like listening to Dhanush speak Hindi which he enunciates clearly meaning that I can actually understand what he says for the most part. My Hindi is pretty limited so it’s always extra enjoyable when I can understand the dialogue without subtitles. 

This instant love affair is annoyingly unrealistic but even more problematic is that once Vishnu finds out more about Rinku, he manipulates her into staying with him. His love for her apparently means it is OK to lie at every turn to make sure that she stays with him. It’s frustrating that the original sweet, slightly geeky doctor becomes a rather creepy, obsessive stalker, although Dhanush at least is convincing in the role. We get happy, awkward happy dancing Dhanush (my favourite), emotional Dhanush declaring his love and practical and resourceful Dhanush capably manipulating the situation in his favour. The performance is perfect, but the character of Vishu is so fundamentally flawed that it’s difficult to accept that he does actually love Rinku.

Skip past the cute kittens if you want to avoid the more major spoilers. Less spoilery review resumes after the second set of kittens.

What really annoys me with this film is the terrible way Vishu and particularly MS treat Rinku despite knowing she has a mental illness. One which is so extreme that she is hallucinating and convinced that what she sees and hears is real. Bollywood has rarely treated mental illness well, but the jokes at Rinku’s expense and the farcical way she is treated is the worst I have seen for a while. Both Vishu and MS are doctors (albeit students) and should know better, but so much of what they do is simply wrong and made me really mad!

I can cope with Akshay Kumar being Rinku’s love interest since once we know exactly who he is, it makes sense of much of Rinku’s earlier behaviour and the way she treats Sajjad. I also like that in the flashback sequences Akshay is made to look young and happy, while in the sequences with Rinku he looks old and tired. I don’t find this relationship as problematic as Vishu’s with Rinku, because here Rinku is in the driver’s seat. It’s her hallucination, her psychosis, and the reason she thinks of Sajjad as her fiancé is because she needs him to be her hero. And right now, the person she needs to take her away from her family is a husband, so naturally that is how she thinks of him. Here, where Sara Ali Khan could legitimately get away with manic behaviour, she dials it back but still seems to force much of her performance. Her character is such a mass of contradictions, that I blame much of her issues on the writing and direction. She is better when she plays the second role of her mother, but these are ‘blink-and-you-miss-it’ moments that don’t make much of an impression. Between Sara Ali Khan’s over-acting and Dhanush’s manipulative character, by the end of the film I really had had enough of this irritating couple!

End of major spoilers

A.R. Rahman’s soundtrack is a real plus for the film and I really enjoyed the songs. I also found the interplay between Dhanush and Akshay funny with some good comedy in the various looks and side glances between the main characters. Perhaps it’s because he’s not in the film all that much, but I found Akshay much less irritating than usual, although the OTT touches with the tricks and performances did wear thin very quickly. How come no-one’s hero is ever a car mechanic or something more normal in these films?  But by far and away the main reason to watch Atrangi Re is Dhanush. Despite playing a selfish and inconsiderate character, he is as charming as ever and ensures we are invested in his story. I just wish it had been more sensible! 3 stars (all for Dhanush!)