Ponnar Shankar, also known as Kalaignarin Ponnar-Shankar,[1] is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language epic historical action drama film produced and directed by Thiagarajan.

The film also features an extensive cast of supporting actors with Prabhu, Khushbu Sundar, Sneha, Vijayakumar, Nassar, Rajkiran, Napoleon, and Ponvannan, amongst others.

The background score and soundtrack of the film, composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with cinematography handled by Shaji Kumar and editing done by Don Max.

Many years later, Mayavar, a chieftain of a village in Periyamalai Kozhundhu's kingdom, encounters twin brothers Ponnar and Shankar, who are being tutored in martial arts by Rakki Annan.

A flashback reveals that Ponnar and Sankar are actually Thamarai's sons and that Rakki, who was then a servant of Nellian Kondan, had saved the twins as small children from Mandhiyappan.

In early 2007, Thiagarajan approached M. Karunanidhi with the intention of making a film on his adaptation of the Ponnar Shankar epic that he had written in the late 1970s.

Muthuraj was selected as the art director for the film and Shaji Kumar as cinematographer while Prashanth took care of visual effects.

[26] The final phase of filming was going on in the forests of Pollachi with elephants and horses resembling the region in the 1500s, when the production team couldn't make prompt payments to the onsite crew that consisted of more than 1000 members.

[29] Ponnar and Shankar, believed to be Chera chieftains, were rulers of the Ponni valanadu (now in the Tiruchirappalli area), in medieval Tamil Nadu.

[30] The legendary folk tale of these brothers, also known as Annamar Swamigal, has been passed down through many generations by means of village songs (known as Gramiya Padalgal) and traditional street theatre, known as Therukkoothu.

Absence of reliable written historical records makes it difficult to ascertain the credibility of any of the above claims, along with the widely held legend which was popularised by M Karunanidhi's novel on the subject.

Thalaiyur Kali, a neighbouring country king belonging to the rival Vettuva Gounder caste, hatched a conspiracy against the brothers which led to a war and the subsequent death of Shankar who was tricked into proving his innocence by falling over a sword.

[34][35] Karunanidhi's novel drew inspiration from a 1971 work written by Kavignar Sakthikanal, who had researched and documented the references to Ponnar and Shankar in the ancient palm leaves he came across at Manapparai.

When they received no response from CBFC, a petition was filed at Madras High Court, seeking its ban under Article 226 of the Indian constitution.

[45][46] The Times of India praised the "terrific" art direction and Shaji Kumar's cinematography but stated that there were far "too many gaps in the story to ensure that the movie never rises above its mediocrity and ends up being an epic disappointment", giving it two-and-a-half out of five stars.

[50] Malathi Rangarajan's review (The Hindu) was fair, labelling the film an "alluring canvas", praising the opulent sets, locations, rich costumes and imposing cast, yet noted that it was "too short to negate the many loopholes".

[45] The Times of India noted the historical inconsistencies, such as the presence of a British constructed dam in a scene while the film is set in pre-colonial period, "wire stunts of Prashanth in action sequences", revealing costumes donned by the lead actresses and also the bamboo dance sequence in the film which is actually native to Nagaland.

[53] Kavignar Sakthikanal, whose 1971 work was the basis for Karunanidhi's novel, observed that the inaccuracies originated from the novel itself due its usage of literary devices like exaggeration.

He further stated that Ponnar and Shankar remained celibate throughout their lives while in the movie they were shown romancing with immodestly dressed women.

They married only to avenge the ill treatment meted out to their mother and promptly sent their newly wed wives to prison denying coital relations with them, he added.

Also, in the film the title characters were not shown committing suicide as in Sakthikanal and Karunanidhi's version, but rather were depicted emerging victorious from the war unscathed.