Satyam Sundaram (Meiyazhagan in Tamil): A heartwarming emotional drama about self-discovery and moving on

Much like C Prem Kumar’s last Jaanu a remake of his own movie 96 this movie also explores the theme of nostalgia in a different setting. The core plot of Satyam Sundaram is about a character’s inability to remember the name of the other. This results in numerous laugh loud out moments and also a hugely poignant moment towards the end

  • Starcast: Aravind Swamy, Karthi, Devadarshini, Jayaprakash, Rajkiran, Saran Shakthi and others
  • Writer and director: C Premkumar
  • Music: Govind Vasantha
  • Cinematography: Mahendiran Jayaraju
  • Producers: Jyothika and Suriya
  • Production banner: 2d Entertainment
  • Running time: 2 hours and 57 minutes

C Premkumar’s Satyam Sundaram is a definite breadth of fresh air from the larger than life pan India movies that the Indian viewers have been subjected to. This isn’t a film for those wanting elaborate action sequences, or romantic scenes with the heroines. The main plotline of Satyam Sundaram is paper thin but what makes it work is the depiction of human emotions. It also helps that both Aravind Swamy and Karthi are in perfect sync with each other. Both the actors are a delight to watch sharing a wonderful camaraderie.

Both Aravind Swamy and Karthi are in perfect sync with each other

Satyam Sundaram begins in the year 1996. A young Satyam is forced to leave both his house and hometown due to a family dispute. The first five to ten minutes establish Satyam’s deep attachment with the house. Fast forward to many years later Satyam has a settled life in Vizag. He has zero intentions of revisiting the past due to the painful nostalgia. But a situation comes when Satyam has to attend an important family wedding, with a lot of reluctance he returns to the native village of Uddandarayunipalem set in Guntur. His plan is to give the gift and quickly get away from there, but things don’t go according to plan. Satyam bumps into Karthi’s Sundaram. Satyam doesn’t recognize who Sundaram is but puts up an act of remembering him. Sundaram treats Satyam with a lot of affection further adding to Satyam’s predicament. That night Satyam misses the bus to Vizag, but his life undergoes a drastic change.

As already mentioned, the core plot of Satyam Sundaram is the protagonist inability to remember the other person’s name. Aravind Swamy’s Satyam recognizes Karthi’s character’s name and how they are related only in the pre- climax. This could have turned out very silly in the hands of an inefficient director, but C Premkumar makes these scenarios believable. The first ten to fifteen minutes have a very sobor tone, but the movie picks up huge momentum with the entry of Karthi.

Karthi’s Sundaram has shades of what he has already done in Vamshi Paidipally’s Oopiri. Just like that film here too he is the catalyst. Still Karthi shines big time with his vibrant presence. The dubbing done for Karthi does take a while getting used to, but the actor raises many chuckles with his witty dialogues and situational humor. He perfectly embodies the idealistic and selfless nature of Sundaram. Apart from the humorous scenes Karthi also makes a striking impact in the emotional scenes too.

Aravind Swamy’s Satyam is more of an introvert with a brooding nature and this works as a perfect contrast to Karthi’s energetic persona. Aravind Swamy does a splendid job in portraying Satyam’s trauma making the viewers feel the pain. He particularly shines in the scenes of Satyam trying to remember why Sundaram is being so affectionate towards him.

Their on-screen chemistry is what drives the movie majorly. The supporting cast comprising of Devadarshini as Satyam’s wife and Rajkiran as Sathyam’s uncle have brief yet memorable characters. Rajkiran in particular is extremely affective, he would remind the viewers a lot of their own uncles.

Rajkiran as Sathyam’s uncle would remind the viewers a lot of their own uncles

The film’s music by Govind Vasantha is striking too. The translation of the Tamil lyrics doesn’t feel jarring. The song Pothoo Nee Pothoo is especially memorable. Mahendiran Jayaraju’s cinematography is also of the highest order. The atmospherics of a rural life has been skillfully captured through his lens.

Satyam Sundaram doesn’t dwell much into the characters of greedy relatives. They are strictly cardboard cutouts meant to make the viewers empathize with Satyam. However, through this subplot the director does seem to be giving a message about forgiving people and in the process overcoming bitterness leading to a happier life.

Satyam Sundaram is a must watch for those like emotionally driven narratives.

PS-2: A More Focused Film Than Part 1

In spite of the flaws director Mani Ratnam deserves credit for bringing alive a relatively unknown part of history

PS 2(Tamil) 3 out of 5

  • Starcast: Vikram, Jayam Ravi, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jayaram, Rehman, Trisha and others
  • Direction and screenplay: Mani Ratnam
  • Additional screenplay: B. Jeyamohan and Elango Kumaravel
  • Story: Kalki Krishnamurthy
  • Based on: Ponniyin Selvan by Kalki Krishnamurthy
  • Producers: Mani Ratnam and Subaskaran Allirajah
  • Production companies: Madras Talkies and Lyca productions
  • Genre: Historical drama
  • Running time: 2 hours and 45 minutes

Kalki Krishnamurthy’s novel on the Chola dynasty is considered to be a significant part of Tamil literature. The novel Ponniyin Selvan was also serialized in the weekly editions of a Tamil magazine. PS-1 (Ponniyin Selvan) was Mani Ratnam’s dream project which finally came alive in 2022. Not surprisingly PS-1 worked more in the Tamil belt given the nativity factor. The film had a mixed response in other languages particularly the Hindi market.

It did decently well in Telugu also but in Hindi the film didn’t attract many eyeballs. A big shortcoming of PS-1 was its convoluted screenplay coupled with the addition of too many subplots. There were also some editing lags.

Hence the anticipation around PS-2 was not the same as SS Rajamouli’s Bahubaali 2. However a Mani Ratnam directorial always garners attention even though the director has not been in his best form of late.

The second part begins at the exact point where the first part ended. The Cholas led by Arunmozhi Varman aka Ponniyin Selvan (Jayam Ravi), brother of Chola king Aditya Karikaludu and Vallavaraiyan Vandhiyadevudu (Karthi) are fighting with Pandyas in the sea. While fighting they fall into the waters. Fortunately, they are saved by a mute woman Mandakini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in a double role). Later Arunmozhi gets treated by the Buddha monks in Sri Lanka. At the same time a conspiracy is taking place. Nandini (again Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) along with the Pandyas is planning to eradicate the Chola dynasty. There are also some Chola chieftains who want to make Madhuranthakudu (Rehman) the Chola king by dethroning Aditya Karikaludu (Vikram).

The rest of the film deals with how the power struggle maps out. And also who is Mandakini and what is her connection with Nandini? Do Arunmozhi and Vallavaraiyan Vandhiyadevudu return to the Chola kingdom? And lastly, who gains the upper hand- Cholas or Pandyas?

First and foremost – the screenplay of PS-2 is a definite improvement over the first part. Mani Ratnam does a good job in connecting all the loose ends and coming up with satisfactory answers.

Some of the twists and turns do catch the viewers unaware. A particular mention must be made of the Nandini’s back story.

The dramatic scenes in PS-2 have also been far better written. A good example of that is the love hate relation between Aditya Karikaludu and Nandini. Vikram and Aishwarya don’t have many scenes together, but the intensity is very much palpable in the brief encounters that they have. There is an important sequence late in the second half featuring the two. This scene does pierce the audience’s heart thanks to the direction and also the performances of Vikram and Aishwarya. Vikram in particular is brilliant with certain unhingedness.

Vikram and Aishwarya do not have many scenes together, but the intensity is very much palpable

As Nandini Aishwarya does a good job in bringing out the dilemmas that her character goes through. Nandini isn’t very likeable person but at the same time you don’t hate her completely either. It also does help that Nandini has a certain charm about her which Aishwarya portrays effortlessly. As Mandakini though she does fall short majorly due to the way the character has been written.

As Nandini Aishwarya Rai Bachchan does a very good job in bringing out the dilemmas that her character goes through.

The romantic scenes between Karthi and Trisha’s Kundavai have a classic Mani Ratnam stamp. There is a scene in the island where Karthi’s character is blindfolded, and subtle romance follows between the two.

Karthi and Trisha romance

As Vandhiyadevudu Karthi continues from where he left off in the first part. He not only provides entertainment with his antics, but also shows his all-round capability in the more emotional scenes. Jayam Ravi brings out the required authority. He commands our attention with his mere presence.

As Vandhiyadevudu Karthi successfully takes off from where he left in the first part
Jayaram Ravi brings out the required authority

Technically PS- 2 is as rich as the first one. The production design by Aparna Thota Tharani is fantastic. The production design enhances the work of the cinematographer Ravi Varma. He does a good job in showcasing the scale of the film through his lens. The VFX department also does a fair job.

Coming to the shortcomings PS 2 feels super stretchy as the first part. The run time of 2 hours and 50 minutes does feel quite long more so with the severely underwhelming battle scenes. The battle scenes have been rather clumsily staged and doesn’t provide the viewers with any high.

The portions featuring Jayaram is reduced to a stock comic character. Even the likes of Prakash Raj and Sarath Kumar suffer on the account of ineffective characterizations.

The film has also got some unnecessary slow mo. moments and close up shots that end up irritating the audiences more than giving an extra edge.

In spite of these flaws Maniratnam deserves credit for exploring a relatively unknown part of history on pan India screen. And in this he is aided by some good performances along with the technical team.

Ponniyan Selvan Part 1 – More Of A Docu Drama Than A Historical Epic

The genre of big scale epics has seen a huge revival thanks to filmmakers like Sanjay Leela Bhansali, SS Rajamouli and even Ashutosh Gowariker to an extent. The likes of Bajirao Mastani, Bahubali 1 and 2 and Jodha Akbar have created a deep impact in the audiences mind. With Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 legendary director Mani Ratnam attempts a genre which he has never done in the past. For those who are not aware the movie is based on a novel by the same name. Since I have not read the novel I will be purely judging the movie as a standalone piece.

Ponniyin Selvan tries to be a gripping combination of thrills, intrigue and emotions.  However, in its effort to be plot heavy the film ends up being neither here nor there, particularly for the Telugu and Hindi audiences.

The story is majorly centered on the character of Vanthiyathevan (Karthi) he is entrusted by Aditya Karikaaludu (Vikram) with the task of delivering important messages to Karikaaludu’s father and sister (Prakash Raj and Trisha respectively). As per the messages plans are being laid out by princely kings to bring down the Chola Empire. Vanithiyathevan’s duty is to find out what are the evil plans and who are hell bent on tarnishing the glory of the Chola Empire. Aishwarya Rai plays princess Nandini. Nandini is someone who comes with a mysterious past, this mysterious past is connected to Karikaaludu. Other important characters include Jayam Ravi as Ponniyin Selvan.

What follows is a complex drama that is hard to keep up with.

One of the few redeeming factors of PS-1 is some of the performances starting with Karthi. The actor is a delight to watch whenever he is on screen. His comic timing and the general energy that he brings to the screen is something that uplifts the film at many places. His interactions with both Aishwarya and Trisha bring a smile to your face.

Vikram as Karikaaludu has less screen time but the actor’s intense performance is a treat to watch. Jayram Ravi makes his entry in the second half but the actor makes his presence amply felt.

Both Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Trisha look like million bucks thanks to director Mani Ratnam and the costumes by Eka Lakhani. Mani Ratnam along with Sanjay Leela Bhansali are one of those few directors who best understand how to use Aishwarya. Here too Mani Ratnam casts her smartly as the enigmatic queen with her own secrets.

Cinematography by Ravi Varman also goes perfectly with the requirement of the film. He does a good job in showing the grandeur of Cholas through his lens. The production design by Thota Tharrani also adds to the richness of the frames.

The biggest issue with Ponnin Selvan- 1 is the numerous subplots integrated into the story by the director. Too many things are happening simultaneously and as a result it is difficult to catch up the plot.

The film is also filled with many characters that don’t make any impact whatsoever. Perfect examples of these are ones played by Prakash Raj, Sarat Kumar and Rehman.

The film’s editing is also subpar as the drama moves at a very slow pace, particularly in the second half. Some of the scenes are way too lengthy. A perfect example of this is the climax where Karthi and Jayam Ravi take upon some villains. The fight scene happens in a ship with thundering rain as a backdrop. It is definitely jaw dropping but this action block goes on way too long. Because of this the cliff hanger at the end doesn’t really make an impact.

Music by AR Rahman is pleasant but nothing spectacular. It is nowhere close to their previous associations.

Final word: Watch PS-1 if you are a fan of Mani Ratnam or you like slow paced historical dramas. The rest can give it a skip.