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Why Yaathisai is Better Than Ponniyin Selvan




Disclaimer: A different take on Ponniyin Selvan. Fairly offensive to Mani saar kannis.


Writer’s Block and How I Overcame It


I guess most of you are aware of the term writer’s block. Here’s the definition of writer’s block according to Wikipedia:


“Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming up with original ideas to being unable to produce work for years.”


While it may sound silly and made up by lazy writers to avoid admitting they are lazy, it is very real. I say this because I am experiencing it (or I am just lazy).

 

It is a fairly difficult condition to overcome. Some may not overcome writer’s block for years. For a brief period, I thought I would never overcome it. But then the miracle happened. 


I watched Ponnyin Selvan a couple of days ago, and it removed my writer’s block immediately. It was so bad that I had to write something about it.


I don’t know how many of you watched Yaathisai, which was released a week before PS2. It is fair to assume that most of you would have missed it because there was legit no hype around it.


I think it is necessary to give a short note on Yaathisai.


A Short Note on Yaathisai

Yaathisai is a historical fiction movie directed by Dharani Rasendran. Now, whenever we hear a historical fiction story like PS, it is always about how great the king’s period was and how great the king was. But Yaathisai goes against that perspective.


Yaathisai shows that kings were no more than barbarians who would do anything to establish authority over others. Yaathisai also shows the consequences of a king’s action and how it affects civilians, which we would never hear in any other story.


Problems with Ponniyin Selvan

The first problem with PS2 is that it tried to achieve a lot in 2:30 hours. It could have easily been a three parter. The whole movie seemed rushed and over-stuffed. 


However, it is a minor problem compared to others.


Second problem. Creative decisions. Don’t get me wrong you are obviously allowed to make changes to the original story. The only thing is that the changes you make must be better than the original.


Mani saar’s creative decisions were blatantly bad, pointless, meaningless, useless, and accomplished absolutely nothing. I mean, I could have just said it was bad, but I am furious, so the extended version.


Next up, casual racism. The worst problem in PS. Of course, it flew over everyone’s head, including mine, when I watched PS1. Thanks to Yaathisai, I noticed it on PS2.

In PS, the major Chola characters are white (the good guys), and the Pandyas are all black (the bad guys). It is sad that we still see this casual racism in movies, that too from legendary directors like Maniratnam.

Are these the only problems in PS? 


Absolutely not.


But these are the problems that made me think that Yaathisai is better than PS. These are the mistakes that Yaathisai avoided.


Why Yaathisai is Better Than PS

Remember Yaathisai made me realise the casual racism in PS? It’s because everyone was black in Yaathisai. It is how it should have been in PS, too. Now, one could argue that PS2 is investing a lot, so they are casting well-established stars to pull in the audience.  


That’s just some major bullshit.


For Lyca, it is just easy money. But for the makers of Yaathisai, it is literally a do-or-die situation, and they still managed not to be racist or politically inaccurate. If Dharani could do it, Mani saar could have definitely done that. But he said, "Nah, fair skin sells."


When I compare these two films, I feel like Mani saar doesn't have half the guts of Dharani. If he had any guts at all, he wouldn’t have changed PS’s climax.


When I read the novel for the first time, I was completely shocked by the open-ended climax written by Kalki. It was just perfect.


It would have been great to see the same climax, but Mani saar had to include the war and Nandini’s random death. He had to end the movie with the subam note.

 

On the contrary, Yaathisai doesn’t hold back any punches. When I saw Yaathisai, I was like, "Oh, they really did that." Again, if Dharani can do it with zero budget, why can’t Mani saar do it with Lyca behind him?


Final Thoughts


Obviously, PS is going to be celebrated by everyone for ages, regardless of its mistakes. Someone had to call out Mani saar for his atrocities, and that someone is me. Now, you may want to abuse me for some of these comments, but all I ask is that before abusing me, watch Yaathisai.  


What did you think about PS2? Leave your thoughts on PS2 and this blog post in the comment section.


Porvaal


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