There is a clear rising tide of expectation around Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan. The Tamil film, set on the historical epic by the Tamil writer Kalki Krishnamoorthy, is set for release in theatres on September 30. But like with RRR, KGF 2 and Vikram before there is a constant buzz around Ponniyin Selvan too as this is also built-up as a pan-Indian release.
Mani Ratnam, of course, is a pan-Indian director, having made movies in both Tamil and Hindi. Ponniyin Selvan also stars Aishwarya rai Bachchan, and lends itself to even more easily for pan-Indian marketing.
The Tamil film, which will also be released in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, stars, among others, Vikram, Karthi, Jeyam Ravi, Jeyaram, Vikram Prabhu, Trisha and Aishwarya Lakshmi.
The music is, inevitably, AR Rahman --- this being exactly 30 years since the duo began working together most memorably and magically in Roja in 1992.
Roja is considered a milestone in Tamil and Indian film music. It was subsequently listed in Time magazine's World's '10 Best Soundtracks' of all time.
'Rahman's voice does not have the gravitas for a historical'
In all, including Ponniyin Selvan, Mani and Rahman have worked together in 17 films. Rahman has won three out of his six National Awards from his association with Mani Ratnam. The duo's Bombay is the largest selling Indian music album of all time, with an unprecedented sales of 12 million records, according to Wikipedia. Considering all this, the songs of Ponniyin Selvan are being eagerly anticipated by music and Indian film fans across the world.
The film's first single, Ponni Nadhi, was released yesterday (July 31) on YouTube. The song has been released in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada. Save for Kannada and Malayalam, the ones in the other three languages have been primarily sung by Rahman himself (along with two others).
The song, shot on Karthi, who plays the Chola king Vallavaraiyan Vanthiyathevan, describes the beauty of the river Cauvery (whose old name is Ponni), the crops, the comely women of the Chola kingdom and the valour of the people in the region. The lines ooze the historic flavour of Chola times.
And to carry such a weighty and bravura words, a heavy voice is needed. And this is where Rahman's high-throated but 'slim' tone has been found wanting. The song's tune and rhythms have been largely welcomed by the fans. But the multiple Oscar and Grammy winner's singing style, suited for more modern-day lilt, has been panned by a section of the listeners on social media platforms. His voice does not have the gravitas for a historical is what one fan suggested.
Incidentally, the Malayalam version sung by Alphons Joseph and the Kannada version rendered by Nakul Abhyankar seem more weighty and appropriate for the lyrics.
The movie has a few more sings, which are expected to be released, as is the norm these days, in a staggered way leading up to the film's release.
Ponniyin Selvan is going to be a two-part historical. The first part is the one releasing on the last day of this September.
