Kalki Krishnamurthy’s Ponnniyin Selvan morphs into Mani Ratnam’s Aditha Karikalan
There are plenty of riches to be savoured. And I suppose the whole world has discussed the acting, music, art, cinematography and other technical aspects.
The innumerable details are angelic. It is the tiny details that reflect the artistic integrity of the film.
That brief smile on Kishore’s (Ravidasan) face reflecting the satisfaction of accomplishing the mission, Makararand Deshpande, introducing, Madurantaka Devar with right intonation and the body language(goosebumps guaranteed), Prabhu’s posture on the horse (the swag that shows PS and Vandiya Thevan as lesser mortals), Vinodini checking out on Aishwarya(Nandini) if she has not lost her balance( A scene straight out of Dil Se) and the lady leading the Pandya rebels on a mission to try and assassinate Sundara Chozar. Wow. One can go on and on, raving about such finely etched details that sculpt the movie to perfection.
I am sure had Sivaji Ganesan seen the movie, he would have given Vikram the tightest hug possible.
I had a chance interaction with Thota Tharani on Nilgiri Express, 1992. I quizzed him, what would he rate as his best film on that date. He averred, that he always believes that the best was yet to come. 31 years later, I would think, the work that he has done in PS universe will be difficult to beat
We will all do well to be inspired by Rahman to constantly reinvent ourselves.
What can we learn from Mani Ratnam?
Mani is so adept at making love stories that he decides to play to his strengths.
The tone of the movie is set expertly by introducing the Aditha Karikalan and Nandini’s childhood crush.
Infact the movie begins with Nandini emerging from a body of water and would have been perfect if it ended with her vanishing away under the body of water.
Mani, I do not think anybody can make a love story better than you do. Can you make a Web series of the world’s greatest love stories? That will be a treasure for posterity to preserve!!
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