By Krishnaraj Sambath
As a Watcher
FDFS (my first ever!) on 30-Sep-2022, 6PM present in Houston, TX. There had been 5 of us in whole within the theatre, together with my spouse and 4-yr previous son. (Not the ear-deafening paper-showering cinematic FDFS expertise I hoped for)
As a Reader
Why did I decide up this e book?
While the face reveal of Oomai Rani was a cliffhanger and left me desirous to know what subsequent, it was solely a part of the explanation. I recalled from one of many PS-I promo interviews Maniratnam saying that if the film conjures up the viewers to learn the e book, he considers this movie successful (or one thing to that impact). That was sufficient of a push for me to purchase the e book. So I did, that very same day.
How did I’m going about it?
Reading something (not to mention a novel, essentially the most epic one at that) in Tamil after 20 years was a battle, to be trustworthy. It took some time for the muscle reminiscence to kick in. But when it did, it simply flowed like a .. Ponni nadhi. (What nostalgia!) Where I cheated – skipped all songs, skimmed by “recaps” of psychological states (which can have been wanted for an extended novel, informed over 4 years, however not when “binge-reading”) I used to be anticipating written Tamil 70 years in the past to be totally different from what it’s immediately. But that wasn’t the case. There was hardly a necessity for the dictionary. Few phrases the place I wanted assist, I might simply guess (like Dhoomakedhu – Shooting star; Pirayam – Age)
I knew it was simpler to begin than it was to truly undergo with it (Thanks to many failed New Year resolutions). So, I wanted a crutch / coach. Come it did, within the type of google spreadsheets, which I used to trace my studying progress (I’m positive there’s an app for this, I used to be simply old-fashioned). I additionally recall BR’s recommendation to Anupama Chopra – learn 10 pages day-after-day or one thing like that). So, I took that too, kind of.
The chart beneath exhibits the variety of chapters learn because the inception of my journey. The blue line exhibits what number of chapters I had accomplished on a given date. The black strains had been aim posts of every half. The dashed grey line is the road of better of match – to present me an concept of after I would possibly end. Thanks to Kalki’s riveting writing (and vacation season), I used to be capable of full it in ~10 weeks (a superb 3 weeks forward of projection).
How a lot of the e book has been coated within the film?
Inner pie exhibits the variety of chapters and components within the PS, the e book. The outer donut exhibits how a lot of the story has been coated within the PS, the film Roughly talking, PS-I first half adopted occasions in Baagam-I (together with the interval block of Aadhitha Karikalan – Nandhini backstory) and PS-I second half adopted occasions in Baagam-II Similar to the e book, the film ends with a cyclone within the ocean and “perceived death” of Arunmozhi Varman within the Palk Strait (Don’t suppose it’s a spoiler to say that Arunmozhi doesn’t really die)
However, the reveal of Oomai Rani’s character is an “induced” excessive within the film. Her character is launched and established earlier. (Arunmozhi Varman, Poonguzhali & Oomai Rani can have a pleasant supper in Ilangai the night time earlier than they head again to Thanjavur solely to get caught within the cyclone.)
This metric of no. of chapters coated (admittedly a flawed one) exhibits PS-I covers the primary third of the novel, presumably leaving a good bit to cowl in PS-II. While there could also be some trimming on backstories and recaps, I anticipate PS-II will hit many of the excessive/key-points from components 3-5 of the novel. (I additionally recall one of many artists mentioning MR doesn’t need to do PS-III)
Who was Kalki’s favourite character in Ponniyin Selvan?
Below I have a look at the variety of mentions of a personality within the novel by Mr. Kalki. I would be the first to confess “quantity” just isn’t equal to “quality” or “importance”. I used to be tangentially impressed by “speech analysis of presidents”. though that is rather more rudimentary (and pedestrian). Few notes earlier than we have a look at the outcomes:
● I did a easy Ctrl+F on character names and famous down the depend of appearances Kindle reported (I used to be shocked and impressed that this function labored in Tamil font)
● When search outcomes yielded 1000+ outcomes, Kindle didn’t present a precise quantity (however merely mentioned 1000+). Thankfully, there have been solely two characters with this “millenia of mentions” star standing
● Some (many?) characters are referred to with a number of names. For e.g., Poonguzhali as Samudhrakumari, Chinna Pazhuvettaraiyar as Kalandhagar. In these instances, for “ease of analysis”, I simply caught to their main names. Also, the secondary names typically weren’t used as typically as their main names.
● Arulmozhi Varman was an exception. Ponniyin Selvan (for comprehensible causes) happens simply as typically as Arulmozhi Varman. So, I added the variety of mentions of “Ponniyin Selvan” to “Arulmozhi Varman”
● __________Pazhuvettaraiyars required one other kind of changes – as a result of there are two of
them (Chinna and Periya). Once a scene / chapter is established that it’s for “Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar”, Mr. Kalki drops “Periya” and simply makes use of “Pazhuvettaraiyar”. And simply the phrase “Pazhuvettaraiyar” happens 1000+ occasions. To hold issues easy, “Chinna Pazhuvettaraiyar” happens 314 occasions. I related the remainder (~700) to “Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar” (who does have extra presence between the 2).
Now onto some observations:
● It might be not a shock that Vanthiyathevan tops the chart
● I wasn’t anticipating Poonguzhali to come back second, though I can’t say I’m absolutely shocked (whose position maintains significance all through the novel)
● I used to be a bit let down that Kundavai doesn’t function as typically as I’d have preferred her to
On Kalki’s writing model:
● Kalki gives unbelievable depth & element for each scene. Here is one instance: The pandiya warriors meet at a “paazhadaindha palliyarai”. Kalki goes on to elucidate about this place being memorial raised for individuals who misplaced their lives in bloodiness of the wars, the way it was initially maintained effectively & often visited (like a museum) and additional time individuals misplaced context & curiosity. A second instance is Kalki’s dialogue on backstories and motivations for why Kodambalur King (Nizhalgal Ravi) helps Madhurandhagan and Malayaman (Lal) helps Adhithakarikalan. This story additionally includes some vivid imagery of infants buried with simply the pinnacle up and stamped by elephants
● Kalki threads the zone of Vandhiyathevan’s fantasy of Kundavai rigorously – with out coming throughout like a hormonal teenager. He additionally threads rigorously of Vandhiyathevan fascinated with each Kundavai & Nandhini on the similar time
● Without doubt, Kalki’s creativity, imaginative thoughts and his understanding of human conduct shines by in how he weaves such sprawling tales by recognized actual info. A line from Mahabharatham’s title track involves thoughts: “Oru kadhaikul pala kadhai; Pala kathaiyil oru vidhai”
● Kalki’s strains are indistinguishable from Maniratnam strains (or vice versa). E.g. Kundavai to Vandiyathevan: Jump onto the river; Exactly like Sakthi to Karthik (in Alaipayuthey): Jump from the prepare
● Kalki (because the narrator) breaks the fourth wall, fairly often. I first discovered it odd and off-key, however ultimately received used to it. (It might have been required again when this novel got here out, in weekly points over 4+ years.)
● Kalki switches between epic layered dialog and pedestrian / foolish chat. Almost looks like two totally different individuals authored it.
● Nandhini’s strains (by Kalki) are razor sharp! Two chapters of occasions (which I assumed wouldn’t make it to the film) out of the blue assumes context and heft by a single line of Nandhini.
● In most chapters, the primary 2/third is an outline of the psychological state of characters and the subsequent 1/third is the precise scene/occasion
● One oddity was that fairly just a few characters, when expressing shock, begin with their strains with “Aaga!”. I can’t think about that’s how individuals really spoke again then.
● Title of chapters, in a number of instances, turned out to be spoilers giving freely the principle crux of that chapter (particularly inside the context of occasions previous that chapter). I’m unsure why Kalki selected that as an alternative of letting the reader uncover what occurs.
● In Author’s endnotes, Kalki’s use of English phrase “Anti-climax” was like a bolt out of the blue, particularly after an ocean of unadulterated classical Tamil
● Most mysteries are solved absolutely, however some are left at 80% solved. This was a bit unsatisfying to me. I’m curious how MR would deal with this
● Kalki comes throughout as a humble individual (an impression fashioned, rightly or not, based mostly on writer’s notes)
Assorted ideas on that period:
● Kings should’ve wielded unrealistic scary powers – The poet on this wiki translation goes on and on about how superior the king is – earlier than attending to the purpose.
● Sending a message to your lover takes a number of days. It takes a number of extra days to know in case your message was delivered. Now, all it takes is a double blue tick.
● It’s simple for me to ask now. But I couldn’t assist however marvel, if that golden period that stretched a number of hundred years (900 – 1200) and huge ruling territories, why didn’t our science & expertise progress, proliferate and explode within the thousand years since? Why aren’t we already multi-planetary-space-colonizing-species?
● Surprised that there was a “coin minting factory”, they’d “taxes” and tax-waivers
My ideas on PS casting, with e book in thoughts:
● Karthi match his character to the T. I stored listening to Karthi’s voice as I learn strains of Vandhiyathevan – who portrays a mixture of playfulness, innocence & tomfoolery. To be trustworthy although, I additionally thought Vijay (of Ghillli occasions) would’ve been equally attention-grabbing (and possibly additionally made higher enterprise)
● Trisha nailed her character as effectively. Can’t think about anybody else for her position.
● As good as Shobita was, I stored pondering what an ideal match Aditi Rao Hydari would’ve been for Vanathi
● For Vikram & Aishwarya Rai, I needed for barely youthful variations of themselves for his or her roles (not being imply right here)
● Kanthamaran has such a outstanding position – unsure why they didn’t get a recognized star. Maybe somebody like Ashok Selvan or Vishnu Vishal
● Manimegalai (Kanthamaran’s sister, Nizhalgal Ravi’s daughter) is a crucial character – I’m excited to see who’s going to play that position in PS-II
● I assumed Parthiban received a brief finish of the stick in PS-I with minimal display time (which is reflective of the e book, to be truthful). But he does get his moments in direction of (and after?) climax
● Prakashraj’s spouse (the queen empress) surprisingly has little to no point out / position within the e book, which is mirrored within the film as effectively
● Mathuranthakan is such an unlikeable character, incompetent even to be a villain. Credit to Rahman for taking part in it
As a Writer
Can’t actually name myself that, with simply this scratch. Well, that is my first non-technical writing
in any case. It’s for you all to react now.