The Son of Ponni) is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language epic historical action drama film directed by Mani Ratnam, who co-wrote it with Elango Kumaravel and B. Jeyamohan.
Produced by Ratnam and Subaskaran Allirajah under Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions, it is the first of two cinematic parts based on Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1955 novel, Ponniyin Selvan.
[5] The music was composed by A. R. Rahman, with cinematography by Ravi Varman, editing by A. Sreekar Prasad, and production design by Thota Tharani.
Ever since its publication, a film adaptation of the novel Ponniyin Selvan had been explored by several Tamil filmmakers, including an attempt by M. G. Ramachandran in the late 1950s; however, it never materialised.
After winning the battle against Rashtrakutas, Aditha Karikalan dispatches his trusted associate and the Vaanar clan's prince Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan to go to Kadambur and investigate and subsequently pass on the information to his sister Princess Kundavai and Sundara Chozhar as he sensed something was amiss with his courtiers.
Vandiyadevan evades and out of misinterpretation, he is taken to Nandini's chamber where she discovers his motives for meeting Kundavai with Aditha Karikalan's message and asks him to bring the reply to her first.
Vandiyadevan meets Kundavai in Pazhayarai through a friend and flower seller Sendhan Amudhan and relays the information about the scheme against the royalty to her.
Aditha Karikalan narrates in poetic detail to his comrade Parthibendran Pallavan that he was madly in love with Nandini in his teenage and describes how beautiful she was like a spotless flower.
He explains to Parthibendran Pallavan that it was akin to dying for the first time in his life, which made him seek more and more war, and that he became ruthless in his journey to overcome the pain of broken heart.
Divulged to be a spy of Sundara Chozhar's well-wisher Prime minister Aniruddha Brahmarayar, Nambi arrives in Lanka and chances upon Vandiyadevan.
Sundara Chozhar commands Kundavai to convince Aditha Karikalan and return with him to Thanjavur as it would be inappropriate for the crown prince to be away from the capital.
However, they are routed by Oomai Rani, a veiled woman; Ponniyin Selvan claims that she was the one who rescued him from drowning in the river Ponni when he was a child.
Meanwhile, a member of Pandya Aabathudavigal reaches Mahinda and gains from him, an army to accomplish the group's plan of assassinating Ponniyin Selvan.
Ponniyin Selvan and Vandiyadevan are presumed to be dead and the news is relayed to Sundara Chozhar, Kundavai, and Aditha Karikalan who are all devastated.
Vowing to retaliate against his brother's apparent death, Aditha Karikalan sets out to Thanjavur to end the deviously deceptive Nandhini.
[12] The film's trailer and songs were released by the special guests Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan on 6 September 2022 at the Nehru indoor stadium in Tamil and dubbed versions of Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages.
[25][26] The film was digitally premiered on Amazon Prime Video from 4 November 2022 in Tamil and dubbed versions of Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages.
[32][33][34] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The Indian Express rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Mani Ratnam understands Kalki's novel is a mainstream page-turner, so he retains its flavour and neither intellectualises it nor dumbs it down".
[35] Sonil Dedhia of News 18 rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ponniyan Selvan 1 is an engaging, involving movie-going experience, and proves once again why Mani Ratnam is one of India's finest filmmakers".
[37] Stutee Ghosh of The Quint rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ponniyin Selvan 1 is grand and royal but unlike the bombastic, hyper-masculine world we are used to seeing these days with overwhelming VFX and CGI, here Mani Ratnam's hold on the narrative never slips".
[38] Sukanya Verma of Rediff rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Mani Ratnam's eye for intimacy, enigma, humour and menace bring out the glory of its source and all the imagination in store.
[44] Sanjana Deshpande of The Free Press Journal rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "the cherry on top of the cake was the cinematography by Ravi Varman.
[51] Anupama Subramanian of Deccan Chronicle rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Ponniyin Selvan is a bit like Game of Thrones without as much grisly violence.
[52] Movie Herald's Felix said 'Glorious attempt which was effective but too delicate'[53] Janani K of India Today rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Technically, Ponniyin Selvan is top-notch.
Be it Ravi Varman's brilliant cinematography or AR Rahman's excellent score, the film sucks us into the world that Mani Ratnam has created with so much detailing.
PS 1 is more about drama and less about action"[55] Lakshmi Subramanian of The Week rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Kalki's book gets Mani Ratnam's royal cinematic touch but lacks powerful storytelling".
[57] Likewise, Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Hindu gave the film a positive review, noting that an "epic story gets Mani Ratnam's royal treatment", while adding "Kalki's source material of PS:1 is rich with myriad characters, and Mani Ratnam gleefully picks them all up to give it a cinematic touch, thanks to some powerhouse performances from his all-star cast".