Ponniyin Selvan 2 Movie Review: An Exceptionally Intimate Epic That Thrives When It’s Not Chasing Bigness

Vishal Menon

Intimacy

It’s the intimacy of Ponniyin Selvan 2 that is likely to be remembered for longer than its many stretches of spectacle or grandeur.

Rooted In The Individual Politics

The cliffhanger at the end of the first film might not have been a shocking endpoint but the new film takes its own time to get back there because it wants to be rooted in the individual politics of its characters before it reaches the larger politics of the State.

Collective Affection/Resentment

If the first film only had so much room to go into the specifics of these relationships, given how we first needed to be introduced to these characters, PS2 thrives on the collective affection/resentment we now feel for them.

A Special Film

What makes PS2 a special film is how we’re always accepting of these characters for who they are as regular people, devoid of the stature their positions come with.

Smooth Flow of Events

The smooth flow of events in the first half and the complexity of an entire machinery working against the three siblings get diluted as the film rushes past major events later on in the film.

Interpersonal Drama

But with long stretches of intense interpersonal drama before that, the second film takes us into deeper spaces that remain constantly engaging and consistently rewarding.

Brute Force

Even if we find the film moving towards a need to impress with its brute force, it has already given us moments of sensitivity that will remain with us long after the battles. Who else but Mani Ratnam to redefine the term ‘epic’ to mean the hugeness of one’s emotions than the hugeness of budget.

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