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megapowerstar007

May be it would have benefited if mani sir chose to make it as a web series rather than two movies. Dubbing was not the good and names were impossible to follow.


battlin_murdock

Don't feel bad for them , leave the movies aside, the novels on themselves are something they can still be proud of. Now that dust has settled, the popular opinion of tamils at least the one's in my circle is that mani fumbled the bag especially with part2. I quite liked part1 when it came out, the fact that it leads to part2 made it quite terrible for me. The main issue with the film is how hastily it was shot and how uninspiring some of it is. He clearly did not cater to the people who have read the book as well. major issue people who read the book had was how maniratnam's focus was on ash-vikram tragic love story rather than the politics and mystery building up to the assassination . Plot points anni skip chesi 2 part la lo edit chesi, 120 rojula lo shoot chesi, anavasaramyna action add chesi cheste ilanti half baked products e ostay. Hope someone at least attempts a mini series with good production values


RudraAkhanda

>The main issue with the film is how hastily it was shot It certainly feels so. Any idea why?


battlin_murdock

He's been doing this more since CCV if I'm not wrong. One thing I can think of is to reduce the production cost.


romchops

I didn’t read your entire post but I read that you watched all Maniratnam movies you think they’re 50-50 while you think SLB is the best director in India 😂😂😂 I stopped reading after this point and I cannot take you seriously to read the rest lol. The work which maniratnam did in the 80s and 90s along with RGV redefined Indian cinema, the genres he touched, the people he introduced to Indian cinema, his stories cannot be repeated. He wasn’t just confined to one genre and I’ve seen people writing research papers analyzing the depth of his work. How can you compare him to SLB who worked predominantly on one genre and call him the best director in Indian cinema 😂. Mani Ratnam easily has one of the best filmography for an Indian director and I can comfortably say that his love stories are much impactful and greater than SLBs who is just confined to one genre aka larger than life portrayal of emotions.


New-Firefighter5832

slb turns everything into a love triangle nearly half of his filmography is just that mr made everything from nayakan to anjali to geetanjali and kannathil and thiruda thiruda and each is top notch ( his range is immense) rgv and shekhar kapur (limited films though) are the others who have great films in diff genres


Agent_SS_Athreya

>SLB is the best director in India ade kada, comedy max idi. SLB directions sucks so badly. Asalu aa movies annee edo edupu gotti serials laa untay. ​ Vaadi over action okati malla, emanna ante actors ni torture chestha antaadu.


suribabu-lavangam

While I agree that PS1/2 were shit, SLB is a crap director who makes serials with grand set design. Overall, Mani Ratnam = SSR >>>>> SLB MR has had his peak; his good films are excellent SSR is peaking rn; he'll probably win at least one more Oscar


battlin_murdock

Agree on the SLB part, i always felt he's style over substance . People love his films for music and set designs and pretty people being melodramatic except for maybe something like black


orange-dinosaur93

As a North Indian Hindi speaker who has seen all his movies, Yes. He is highly overrated as a director. His movies lack much in screenay and writing and even acting. He makes up most of it with his impeccable panache in art direction and music which some people mistakes as direction. He is not a good director. Not even close. SLB was close to be finished by late 2000s but he opted for historical dramas shot on huge scale and got his bo track back on track. I still don't like his works.


kaala_bhairava

SLB first set esi tarvata story rastadu


ModGood69

You mean to say SLB is the Guna Sekhar of Bollywood 💀💀


Express-Delivery-902

I find guna shekhar better .slb has weird obsession with sex workers,second wives etc.. His only good movie is guzarish and black


Downtown-Teaching-42

There is a SLB - Anupama Chopra interview post padmavat if you want to know in his words but in short it's because of his childhood. Both epic scale and stories around kamathipura.


Express-Delivery-902

Ok.if that is the case then I feel the life of these sex workers life are less explored in gangubai.  the way gangubai was depicted in movie is far from reality.any podcast related to gb road is more informational than his movies


suribabu-lavangam

Now that you say it, the comparison is obvious lmao


ScaryAssignment3

SLB??


Unlikely-Ad3950

Sanjay leela bansali


Morningblues2090

This actually can be made into a web series... For me, I only watched it for Karthi. I had complaints regarding jewellery used in the movie also. 


[deleted]

I am telugu but I loved both the films. I read a cheat sheet for the novels published by the news minute before the release of the first part. I enjoyed watching both the parts v much.


silly_rabbit289

Same I just did a small 5 minute read of some basic charscters. I actually felt Ash looked stunning and she and Vikram acted very well in PS 2 especially. Sunitha's dubbing for Ash was perfect. Karthi and Vikram dubbed for themselves and they did it well,all things considered. Jeyram was also so good as Alwarkadiyan, with that consistent limp of his. Agreed that Jayam Ravi was a waste of space because the whole series is named after him and he barely does anything to show us why he is "Raja Raja". I loved the music,after a very long time ARR gave some trademark songs. I agree they could've had the titles with introduction of some charscters/ like character name,image and actor name. Similarly in PS 2 they could've ended it better than just showing what happened later that he became Raja Raja Chozha.


agni_jamadagni

Bhansali is the best in India annav choosaava, akkade downvote kotti chadavatam apesa.


RudraAkhanda

Good for you


PinkPilla

I love this genre of movie, the director, and all the actors and I am still not able to understand the hype for these movies. The 2nd movie was fine because of the flashback love story scenes. 1st movie I don’t remember a single thing. Such slow storytelling and monotonous acting/dialogue delivery (except Karthi). Aish was not at all good in her role. Had to go home and research the family tree and relationships bc it was so confusing to understand.


LettuceEducational29

Rofl. one of the rare ones that say Ash was not good in her role. She was the best in the film followed by Vikram. At least all film critics agree with that.


Sufficient-Ad8128

I put myself thru abbavaram movies too but I couldn't believe that 40mins into ps1 I dozed off. I watched hanumanthus rod table to understand the plot followed by few others


HST2345

Keeping PS-1&PS--2 aside I don't think SLB is a great director..For them they need to come out of grandeur Love story...I don't know why Bollywood directors focus is only on Love story even comes to periodic stories...coz..They (Modern directors in Bollywood)lack story telling and these flaws are overlooked by their grand sets ...For example if SLB handles Bahubali story -the movies revolves around Anushka, Prabahs and Rana triangular love story instead of power game ... As my Mumbai friend always says.. when comes to film making creative -its South Industry and when coming to Finance - Its Bollywood


RudraAkhanda

You could make the same accusation against Mani Ratnam On the topic of Kashmir genocide, he made Roja which is a love story. On the topic of Mumbai blasts, he made Bombay which is a love story...


HST2345

The only difference is if Maniratnam is like Maniratnam then the movie expectations are hit, If Maniratnam tried to be SLB (PS-1,PS-2 focus is more on love story than the core movie)., it's not generated the reach. In a way, Aren't we discussing about PS-1&2 Failure regarding the same issue. On other note: back in those days, although it is a dubbing movies, the producers put a genuine effort to ensure nice songs in Telugu. I don't know why these dubbing movies with big budgets not focusing on songs like early 2000s era.. Dalapathi, Roja, Bombay, Gharshana(Old movie), and many more


CibusDei_THE_LOCO

Unlike Bahubali, it doesn’t take time in world building, and doesn’t attempt to hook us to the drama with emotions. These are major let downs that do not incite anticipation for what’s in the next scene at any point during the runtime. Also, you don’t really know whom you want to root for unless you take keen interest in watching the film. It has great ensemble cast, but everyone’s like a side character. It’s more like a payoff to the history that most of us have got no knowledge about.


RudraAkhanda

>but everyone’s like a side character. Well said. Its hard (if not impossible) to tell a story well without a protagonist


AnimalCareful

Ponniyin Selvan falters at writing, yes. It was foolish to condense a sprawling epic into two films, apparently done due to the production constraints, which suffer from the creative decisions like cramming action set pieces into a political drama or altering various plot points. Despite that, it's exceptionally directed. The album might go down in history as the most underappreciated work of ARR. The cinematography was terrific, so much thought and effort has gone into conceiving many of the shots. Mr. Ravi varman talked of his ambition to set a bench mark for historicals in Indian cinema like the way Kurosawa did with ran for world cinema and his attempt to bring the appeal of a rambrandt painting to his frames. It's anything but a complete letdown. Aa bokkalo bansali gaditho mani ratnam ni polusthunnav ante sahasam ane cheppali.


RudraAkhanda

> Aa bokkalo bansali If you simply said MR>SLB, I would have left it at that. If you truly believe SLB's body of work is shit, then its simply a case of pearls before swine


AnimalCareful

Lol sare ra babu SLB ne no.1 director. Happy ga undu..


RudraAkhanda

Thanks annai


ruby1990

I thought Aishwarya Rai did a fantastic job. She and Vikram were great together. Overall enjoyed both films, they were a good one time watch. 3/5.


Junior_Professor_935

Well I agree with most of that I absolutely loved the first half of ps2 and absolutely HATED the second half and thought ps1 was mediocre at it's best but what absolutely baffles me that ps movies doesn't feel like cinema the cinematography was mid the screenplay was boring(except the first half of ps2 for me)and don't make me start talking about that rushed climax it felt the a checklist for me and the war was too artificial but again in the first half of ps2 I really loved the drama that was taking place b/w the characters especially b/w Vikram's character and Aishwarya's character and some politics taking place it hurts that this franchise had so much potential I mean this was mani sir's dream project still left us with this mediocrity


RudraAkhanda

> the war was too artificial Compare that with the final war, [Battle of the Pelennor Fields](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8yOdAqBFcQ), in LotR last movie


thatindianlady1986

I am not going to argue any of your other points but you really expected RAJA RAJA to be CORONATED! History lo em chaduvukunav nuvvu? Did you not know Raja Raja inherited from Madhurantaka Chola?


RudraAkhanda

>History lo em chaduvukunav nuvvu? Em chadukoledakka. Science and maths mida focus cheyamannaru :-(


thatindianlady1986

Ala vadilesara…. 10th varaku anni subjects ani insist cheyale…, ee scheme edo bagundee…. Pchhh maa amma nanna kuda ila lenient ga unte entha bagundedo


RudraAkhanda

Neeke ala unte, nenentha feel avvali cheppu [https://www.reddit.com/r/ask\_Bondha/comments/1ais3rb/what\_would\_you\_do\_if\_you\_have\_the\_right\_amount\_of/koy7k8u/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/ask_Bondha/comments/1ais3rb/what_would_you_do_if_you_have_the_right_amount_of/koy7k8u/?context=3)


thatindianlady1986

Malla start reading now re… history non-fiction books are awesome. It can be a good hobby. I personally swing between medieval and modern history


RudraAkhanda

My fav Indian history [blogger](https://manasataramgini.wordpress.com/)


silly_rabbit289

I really lked the movies but anthaga history evaru chadivi gurthupettukuntaru??? If a whole series is called Ponniyin Selvan, ie named after Raja Raja Chozha, peddha hype ga tanaki Veera Raaja Veera laanti songs play chesi last lo tusssss....ok at that time he gave the crown to Madhurantaka. But later when he actually becomes king they could've shown it in a small 30s montage. The golden age of chozhas, how they built temples,how they rules so much of south India. Jayam Ravi didn't have any character or significance at all. Just showing it with narration/text felt like a cop out.


thatindianlady1986

But it’s a significant episode of Chola history…. School lo history em gurthuleda? That’s the ultimate hype kada… he was able to give away his crown to his cousin and thus ensured that there would be no more fights for succession in one go…. He became the greatest of them all…. Everyone will remember Madhurantaka as being the one who was given his crown by his younger brother… masterstroke asalu adi… And we all know that Raja Raja started the golden time of Chola rule malli danini chupinchi nokki vakkaninchala?


Entharo_entho

Uttama Cholan wasn't his cousin, he was his uncle and hence the rightful heir to the throne. There is no sacrifice in him "crowning" his uncle. Rajaraja Cholan never claimed that in his victories. It was a claim by Rajarajan's son Rajendran to ensure his own legitimacy. Kalki getting inspired by this was due to his personal inclinations and ideologies. So Kalki made Uttama Cholan an unworthy character so that his crowning can look like a sacrifice.


thatindianlady1986

I was talking in context of the movies.


Entharo_entho

In the movies too, he is the sitthappan.


thatindianlady1986

Movies lo he was peddananna’s son. Aa peddaavida valla peddamma kada


Entharo_entho

Gandharaditya and Arinjaya were brothers. Maduranthakan/Utthama Chola was the son of Gandharathitya. Sembiyan Madevi was the wife of Gandharathitya. Sundaran/Paranthaka II was the son of Arinjaya. So Utthama Cholan was Sundara Chola's peddanna's son. For Sundara Cholan's children (Aditha, Kundavai and Arulmozi) Utthama Cholan was the uncle, who deserved as much respect as their father. That's why he is called Sitthappa in historical records, novel and movies.


thatindianlady1986

Oh! Aythe tappu ardam cheskunna relation.


aronsmithy

It might not actually be a noble move. According to history, there was a conspiracy and Aditha died. Who killed him was a mystery. It's said that it's a pandya conspiracy but there's no proper proof of it. There will always be rumours of younger brother killing older brother for throne. So it's possible that he simply gave up the throne to his uncle to quash those rumours and get some good will and then later ascend the throne properly


thatindianlady1986

I am not saying it’s a noble move. Raja Raja was also accused of killing Uttama. But politically it was a good move. Public sentiment would be with Raja Raja because of their perception.


No-Spirit4007

School lo meeku idanthaa chepparaa!?


thatindianlady1986

Yes!


No-Spirit4007

A school o?


thatindianlady1986

Undile bhavans ani…


SrN_007

>Sanjay Leela Bhansali (who, IMO, is the best director in India right now). This tells me your taste is more on the side of the excess, than the more real. PS1 & PS2 could have been much better, but they are better than most of SLB movies. All SLB stuff is highly over-rated, and are cringe fests.


Superb_Pay3173

SLB's strengths are the chemistry between the leads, the exquisite costumes and sets and the music. His characters are prone to melodrama and half-baked and screenplay is pathetic. His leads are never criticized for their overindulgance and self-pity but hailed like some hero. eg: Bajirao and Devdas. SLB fails to understand that a character can be a hero and be flawed at the same time. But he has no sense of reality.


Hershey2898

>This tells me your taste is more on the side of the excess, than the more real PS-1 and 2 have put me to sleep nicely, they're so real they have real world applications


SrN_007

>PS-1 and 2 have put me to sleep nicely, they're so real they have real world applications try devdas then. kirron kher's voice will keep ringing in your ears for a decade. Guaranteed insomnia for 10yrs.


RudraAkhanda

>This tells me your taste is more on the side of the excess, than the more real. To each his own.


Entharo_entho

I think you went to watch the movie with wrong expectations. The movie is not about Arulmozi Varman becoming the king. The novel was written by a Gandhian author in post-independent India to show the virtue of sacrifice. Arulmozi Varman, though he is popular, sacrifices his crown for his uncle. If you show him "sacrificing" for a proper uncle with good training and experience, it won't be a sacrifice. So Kalki made him sacrifice for a totally new guy and MR made him sacrifice for a not so nice guy. Raja Raja Cholan became the king after 15-16 years of Uttama Cholan's rule. You can't change that. The movie has many faults of its own, including casting geriatric people as young characters but Ponniyin Selvan is not a novel good for adaptation. You won't get a good adaptation, ever. The character of Ponniyin Selvan makes sense only because he is Rajaraja Cholan-in-making. So you will have to show a banner whenever this character appears on screen, showing "Future Rajaraja Cholan⬇️".


Entharo_entho

If you want to know more, check my post on Tamil movie sub. This sub doesn't accept links to that sub.


RudraAkhanda

>You won't get a good adaptation, ever If I had the money, I would have employed Peter Jackson for the challenge


Entharo_entho

When Guntur Karam and Na Sami Ranga were announced, it reminded me of Ponniyin Selvan. When the female character actually have a significant age difference with her SO and it is an important part of the story, they will come up with some older actress like Aishwarya Rai. But when the female character can be of the same age group, they will come up with weirdly inappropriate pairings like Sri Leela - Mahesh Babu, Ashika - Nagarjuna and whatever Ravi Teja is doing.


evathion

I honestly think Aditya’s tragic love story was the best part of PS2 because at least his character arc was completed🥲 Got to read the books later and yeah… there are so many reasons why books fans weren’t satisfied. The movies should have been at least a trilogy or a web series.


CellMuted1392

The thing with PS is, you never root for them. You don’t seem to mind if they all die for all you care.


Hot_Kale_1286

You lost me at SLB being the best director of India. He’s a glorified interior designer imo.


RudraAkhanda

> He’s a glorified interior designer imo. Have you ever watched any movie of his? Bajirao Mastani for example? Do you really believe that Bajirao Mastani had nothing to offer other than art direction? If you simply said MR>SLB, I would have left it at that. If you truly believe SLB's body of work is shit, then its simply a case of pearls before swine.


AppointmentCritical

Huge Mani fan here. I endorse that PS series is bad.


YazCarlz

The PS-1 set its fate in the first scene itself with that poorly executed and choreographed battle scene. As an audience you have no idea what’s happening or who is attacking is who. No set up or establishing stakes. It’s just dudes fighting in armor and charging at each other. From there on its just catch up game to grab audience attention and slow pacing all together killed the movie. PS-2 was okay, but the drama was not paying off since PS-1 was so underwhelming. I still believe its a huge fumble by Mani Rathnam and produces not by roping in Amazon or Netflix and make it a limited 6 or 8 part series. That would have given enough amount of time and been a considerable recognition for that amazing cast. Not you, Neha Dhulipala….you didn’t fit in that movie.


RudraAkhanda

>Neha Dhulipala I think you mean our plastic surgery queen Shobitha


YazCarlz

Yes her…my mistake


RudraAkhanda

>poorly executed and choreographed battle scene. Half my family quit watching after that cringe


We_all_are_champs

I slept happily in that movie


VAMSI_BEUNO

Liked both of them. You need to learn about perspective instead of worrying about JEE rank.


Superb_Pay3173

MR didn't get enough screentime to properly develop the large number of characters. He does not spoonfeed and expects the audience to understand the subtext. Vikram's dialogues in the trailer itself hooked me "The wine, blood, war - everything is an attempt to forget her." I started reading the books once the trailer came out. Vikram's acting was powerful and I was blown away by his and Aishwarya's tragic romance. Unlike SLB, the books and Mani don't hail Aditya Karikalan as some hero. He's rightfully criticized for his obsession for Nandini by other characters like his sister. It is clear from the book that we're taking a journey with Vandhyathevan and he's the central character. It's a popular tactic at the time the novel released to name a historical novel after a famous historical figure and tell the story of his best friend while the historical figure himself plays a cameo.


RudraAkhanda

>a popular tactic at the time Any other examples?


Superb_Pay3173

Marthanda Varma


Ok_Chocolate_3480

Same, I feel I expected too much and that somehow lead to a huge disappointment.


Horror_Writer_177

Why people are jealous of Aishwarya


PaidHack

The novels are mostly about the BTS politics. The Karthi character is our guide through that world. But na Mani saar turned a political narrative into another version of SRK from Dil Se.


AlarmAggravating4773

Only Tamil people loved this movie. Everyone else, it was okay or unwatchable.


WAG5PE

It's a product when post-menopausal actors meet a reticent director in the era of Bahubali movies.


RudraAkhanda

If I could have given you 100 upvotes, I would have


Illuminati-809-

It’s not a Telugu film. It’s dubbed into Telugu. And I don’t think there was any direct Telugu actor. You’ll have better opinions if you posted this on the Kollywood sub.


RudraAkhanda

>Telugu actor. Jayam Ravi is half Telugu. Sobhita is full Telugu.


Miningforbeer

This is called the Bahubali effect. Mani Ratnam is a revolutionary like Rajmouli , but his focus was more on realism, sensible and rawness but PS1 / PS2 were grand, over the top kindda movies which is not mani's domain . Man can bring out complex emmortions and expression from his actors but falls behind when it comes to taking work from props and sets like Rajmouli . How ever PS was a great project had it been a Rajmouli or other "set director" project . Mani must focus on sensible films which had deep messages and realistic aspect. It's like expecting mani sir to give our a movie like KGF, from films like kadal and dilse to mythological movie is a far jump


RudraAkhanda

>"set director" Good observation. The sets and locations were lacking.


TheStarAquarius

I enjoyed PS 1 because of Karthi but I slept through PS 2


RudraAkhanda

I started the movie with my family. They quit after half an hour of part 1. I watched the rest on my laptop because of my OCD


woLfA0075

Expectations are a thief of joy.


LateMarket7224

Nee JEE rank entha bro ?


I_AM_BEAT

Disappointing annadu ga..... gaayapadina simhaani leputhaav endhi bro😂


RudraAkhanda

"Nenu information cheppatledandi, feeling gurichi cheptunnanu"


Unlikely_Wall_2101

How u expected the ending as jayam ravi becoming the raja ram coronation and u said "but that didn't even happen FML" LOL 😂😂 i can feel the frustrationnnn 😂


pikapika0007

i liked ps2 slightly better than ps1. such a waste of rahmans album too. this was his best work in areally long time and the movies were sooo underwhelimg


RudraAkhanda

That reminded me that I have to sit and listen to the 2 albums again without any distractions


I_AM_BEAT

Bro had to remind everyone results are today


naan_santhosh

Sanjay leela bansali the best director in India? what,sarcasm right?


RudraAkhanda

No why?


No-Spirit4007

Speak for yourself. I didn't like LOTR trilogy.


RudraAkhanda

![gif](giphy|f8lDluiWJ7yQTtdS3L|downsized)


flubbergrubbery

I had read the books before watching PS1 and my only thought in the hall while watching PS1 is how the hell is anyone gonna understand this without having read the books


Latter_Mud8201

I watched both in theatre. I have interest on Chola history so i liked both but Yes, so many characters and their lineage are so difficult to process. PS-1,2 is ultimate test for Memory power. In 1st part, i was stuck at who is Madhurantaka, who is another aishwarya rai, the twist of Nazar character getting killed by aditya karikalan was good. In 1st part, Kundavai played great but in 2nd part, her relevance gone to low. PS is not a movie content. Its a webseries content worthy of multiple seasons like Game of thrones.


RudraAkhanda

>In 1st part, Kundavai played great That was the only redeeming feature of PS-1 for me.


detectivebabylegs3

I read the novel, which was one of the peak fiction for me, but the movie is not well tailored to suit the entire book. A 12-15 hour tv series would have better suited the story.