‘Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two’ Review: Impressive Adaptation Tries to Cram Too Much Into Two Parts
variety.comShalini Dore Features News Editor When last we saw the title character of Mani Ratnam’s epic “Ponniyin Selvan” saga, the real-life prince who would expand the Chola empire from South India all the way to the Ganges in the north was drowning as he crossed from Lanka to India.
Instead of picking up at that cliffhanger, the action-packed second installment rewinds a few decades to focus on different characters, before circling back to reveal the fate of Jayam Ravi’s title character, also known as Arunmozhi Varman. “Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two” starts by filling in the backstory of how Arunmozhi’s older brother, Crown Prince Aditha Karikalan (Vikram), fell for Nandini (Aishwariya Rai Bachchan), an orphaned girl living with a priest family at the local temple.
The royal family disapproved of him marrying a girl whose antecedents weren’t known, and so she was chased off. The story then picks up to when reports reach town that the younger prince has drowned.
For the sequel, which was reportedly shot concurrently with the first part during COVID, Ratnam and co-writers Jaymohan and Kumaravel take considerable license with Kalki Krishnamurthy’s original books.
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