Ponniyin Selvan: Part One

Ponniyin Selvan: Part One (Tamil: பொன்னியின் செல்வன்: பாகம் 1), released as Ponniyin Selvan: I or PS-1, is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language epic historical action film directed by Mani Ratnam, the first of two cinematic parts adapted from Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1955 novel of the same name¹. Set in the 10th century, it tells the story of the early life of the Chola prince Arulmozhivarman, who would become the emperor Rajaraja I (947–1014)¹. The film was produced by Ratnam and Subaskaran Allirajah under Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions, and released in theaters worldwide on 30 September 2022 in standard and IMAX formats¹.

The novel and the long road to film

Kalki Krishnamurthy, the pseudonym of the writer and editor R. Krishnamurthy, serialized Ponniyin Selvan in his Tamil weekly magazine Kalki from 29 October 1950 to 16 May 1954; it was later collected into five volumes². The novel mixes real historical figures with invented ones, and Kalki described his work as fiction set in the historical background of the tenth and eleventh centuries⁹.

Adapting the novel was a long-standing ambition of the Tamil film industry. Superstar M. G. Ramachandran purchased the rights in 1958, and actors and directors including MGR, Rajinikanth, and Kamal Haasan attempted adaptations over roughly five decades without success, mainly for reasons of budget and casting¹⁰. Mani Ratnam tried to make the film in the 1980s and again in the early 2010s, with each attempt abandoned over budgetary constraints¹⁰. He revived the project in January 2019 with Lyca Productions funding it, calling it his dream project¹. The commercial viability of a two-part film demonstrated by S. S. Rajamouli's Baahubali series (2015, 2017) helped convince production companies to take the financial risk¹⁰.

Production

After several changes in cast and crew, production began in December 2019 and ended in September 2021, having been halted twice by the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was shot at locations across India, with some sequences filmed in Thailand¹. It was originally planned as a single film but was split into two parts¹. The two-part project was made in five languages with a reported budget of close to Rs 5 billion (Rs 500 crore), placing it among the most expensive Indian films¹¹.

The digital streaming rights were purchased by Amazon Prime Video for ₹1.25 billion (₹125 crore; US$16 million)¹², and the film streams on Prime Video⁷.

Reception

Critical response was largely positive. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 87% Tomatometer from 15 reviews and a 78% Popcornmeter audience score². The Indian Express gave it 4 of 5 stars, praising Ratnam's condensation of a roughly 2,000-page novel and calling the war sequences authentic rather than mere hero introductions⁶. NDTV's review called it an ambitious, near-flawless adaptation, singling out the performances led by Vikram and the production design by Thotta Tharani⁸.

Not all critics agreed. A dissenting Indian Express column argued the film was too faithful to the novel, condensing its 2,210 pages into what the writer called a stenographer's shorthand that lacked cinematic interpretation⁴, and another review called it a case study in overcomplicating a straightforward story¹³. Reviewers and audience commentary repeatedly noted that viewers unfamiliar with the novel could lose track of the many characters and factions².

History versus fiction

Only a few key characters in the film are based on history. The historian V. Sriram, a writer on Chennai's history and heritage, explained that Arulmozhi Varman, who acceded to the throne in 985 CE and adopted the regnal title Rajaraja, and his siblings Kundavai and Aditha Karikalan are historical, but characters such as Nandini and Azhwarkadiyan were created by Kalki¹⁴. Historically, Arulmozhi did not succeed Sundara Chola directly; Madurantakan, known as Uttama Chola, ascended the throne first¹⁵. The assassination of Aditha Karikalan is reported as revenge for killing King Veerapandiyan, but who took part in his death is not clearly known; theories implicating Uttama Chola were later declared a misreading of the Chola inscriptions on the basis of the Udayargudi stone inscriptions¹⁵.

Sriram also criticized production design choices, noting arches and domes that did not exist in Rajaraja's time, Mughal-inspired jewelry and props, and fort entrances with lotus motifs that entered India only after the Turkish Sultans; he observed that the film was shot at Gwalior and Orchha, both post-Mughal era monuments, and that Thanjavur, shown as a hill fort, is flat river-bank territory¹⁴. Commentators have also noted that Kalki's novel whitewashes the medieval empire: the Cholas' own inscriptions describe burning cities and sacking places in Sri Lanka that the novel's Rajaraja refuses to attack¹⁶.

References

1. Ponniyin Selvan Movie Review | Mani Ratnam, Pardesi Reviews (YouTube description)
2. Ponniyin Selvan: Part I, Rotten Tomatoes
3. Ponniyin Selvan: I, Lyca Productions
4. Mani Ratnam's 'Ponniyin Selvan: I' is like a stenographer's shorthand of a fascinating speech, The Indian Express
5. National Film Awards documentation, Press Information Bureau
6. Ponniyin Selvan 1 review: Mani Ratnam's largely faithful and brilliant adaptation has no dull moments, The Indian Express
7. Ponniyin Selvan: Part I streaming, JustWatch
8. Ponniyin Selvan - 1 Review, NDTV
9. Why debate and controversy on Ponniyin Selvan is on thin ice, Moneycontrol
10. Making of Ponniyin Selvan: How Mani Ratnam translated Kalki's vision into film, Moneycontrol
11. Ponniyin Selvan novel and film background document
12. Ponniyin Selvan film reference document (digital rights)
13. Ponniyin Selvan I: Mani Ratnam's magnum opus is a crash course in how to overcomplicate a straightforward story, The Indian Express
14. How true is Ponniyin Selvan 1 to history? A historian distinguishes fact from fiction, The Indian Express
15. Ponniyin Selvan: Kalki's imagination vs actual history, DT Next
16. How successful were the Cholas as empire builders, The Indian Express

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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