Ponniyin Selvan 2 Movie Review

Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan 2 starts straight away from the climax of part 1, with a prologue dating back to the teen days of Adita Karikalan and Nandini (well played by both the actors). The story immediately shifts to the post-combat climax sequences of first part, where Vanthiya Thevan (Karthi) sails secretly with the unconscious Arunmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi) and Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) sends a message to Adita Karikalan (Vikram) to meet him personally. The Pandiyas continue to hatch their plans to kill Sundara Chozhan (Prakash Raj), and his sons avenging the death of Veera Pandian (Nasser).

The first scene of the film exhibits the directorial proficiency of Mani Ratnam, where he beautifully etches the romantic portions between the younger version of Adita Karikalan and Nandini. The first half takes its time to build up the momentum, and the entire second half is more like watching the highlights of Ponniyin Selvan. Too many shocks, twists, and turns make audiences’ attention scattered in many places.

The best picks of the film are the romantic episodes that are poetically presented by Mani Ratnam. The encounter between Karthi and Trisha, the young age Adita Karikalan and Nandini followed by the Vikram-Aishwarya episode are heart-touching. When it comes to performance actors Vikram and Jayam Ravi steal the spotlights. Actor Vikram with his expressions and Jayam Ravi with his charismatic appeal breathe sumptuous life into their respective roles. Jayam Ravi keeps gleaming with his smile and body language throughout the film. Just watch out for the scene, where he comes out of the Buddhist Monastery knowing that the murderers are waiting to kill him. It’s purely magical. Vikram scores brownie points during the pre-climax scene that will leave a deep impact on the audiences. Actor Karthi, Trisha, Shobita and Aishwarya Lekshmi have nothing special to perform in the second part. Vikram Prabhu gets a meaty role, and he has done a remarkable job, Sarath Kumar and Parthiban don’t have more to score, but deliver a neat show with their screen presence.

AR Rahman is the backbone of this film, and his BGM works are beyond brilliance. The way, he creates slow-paced version of ‘Devaralan Aattam’ for the pre-interval sequence is magnetizing, and he keeps sparkling throughout the film. Ravi Varman is yet another pillar of this film, and Sreekar Prasad’s editing work is sleek.

Overall, Ponniyin Selvan 2 offers a complete package for the voracious readers of the story, and of course, even the ones, who haven’t read it. Don’t miss to watch the film as it stands out to be an excellent piece of work.