Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan isn’t the first time that co-writer Kumaravel is sinking his teeth into author Kalki Krishnamurthy’s adulated five-part novel series on the Chola dynasty. Kumaravel, who first adapted the novel into a celebrated play in Chennai in 1999, had three things in mind when he set out to revisit beloved characters from the book, Aditya Karikalan (Vikram), Nandini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan), Kundavai (Trisha), Arulmozhi Varman (Jayam Ravi and Vanthiyathevan (Karthi), for the second time.
“I looked at why readers celebrated Kalki. The first reason is his language, the second is his humour, and the third is how he packs historical stories into the plot,” he says. So as difficult as it was to turn a 2500-page novel into a 300-page screenplay — which meant leaving out interesting bits from the book at the risk of disappointing Kalki fans — the goal was to make sure the film reaches the novice viewer.
Kumaravel, along with Mani Ratnam, took around eight months to structure the story, after which the script went to co-writer Jeyamohan. “We didn't really touch the plot. So even if we skip a few parts like the crocodile scene or the Kudanthai jothidar arc (both story arcs were important to establish Kundavai’s relationship with Vanthiyathevan in the book), if we retain the highlights of the book, it will still make sense.” Kumaravel breaks down the writing behind five such pivotal scenes before we gear up to catch the epic conclusion of Ponniyin Selvan 2 this Friday.
How did you conceive this scene?
Vanthiyathevan is seeing Nandini for the second time here. Kalki would have described his first meeting with Nandini in her palanquin with regards to how it affected him, his fears, happiness and so on. But in the film, all of these emotions had to come through with just this scene in the Thanjai kottai, because that is all we had time for, and the audience needed to understand Nandini's pull with this scene.
On the other hand, we have Nandini, who is very amused with Vanthiyathevan. She's like, "Who is this man who has the courage to come through to see me like this? And why is he taking the names of Nambi and Karikalan?" Kalki gave a brilliant base for the scene in the book to make readers understand who he is as an author and who these two characters are. It plays out as a very long sequence in the novel.
Nandini's beauty is something that Kalki documents with incredible detail. Was it challenging to express something so intangible like that with writing for film?
It was important to depict Nandini's beauty in the film, which we achieved through various scenes and dialogue throughout the film. For instance, when Kundavai meets Nandini outside the kotai, she speaks profusely of her beauty. And when Vanthiyathevan is in the suranga paathai, Nandini asks, "Mayangi viteergala," and he responds with, "Konjam.” Jeyamohan sir brought out her aura so beautifully.
Nandini is almost lit up like she’s a gorgeous serpent in the scene. Tell us about the lighting here
Even when we conceived the scene, Mani sir had the lighting in mind. The entire scene doesn't unfold like two people just sitting for a chat. There is a feeling of “rush" and movement. Vanthiyathevan has a sense of urgency, and Nandini is curious as to who he is. And in the middle of all of this, they begin talking about something completely unrelated such as "ungal per solungal, unga oor enna," and all. But their thoughts are something else entirely, which was reflected by Ravi Varman's lighting. No matter from which angle you see Nandini, you'll keep seeing her in that light. And here you have to note how different her lighting is from Kundavai.
This scene doesn't feature in the book. Can you tell us the need for this scene in the film?
Kalki would've described Kundavai's aalumai (domination) in various places in the book. There are many instances of her bravery and tact spoken about in the past tense in the book, but no documentation of something she actually does. So, Mani sir wanted to have a scene that depicted her personality. She finishes every person who is plotting against her father with this scene.
That said, this is not a conspiracy. The chieftans are only debating whether the throne needs to go to the elder brother's son (Rahman) or the younger brother's grandson (Prakash Raj), so they don't look at themselves as bad people. The objective is for everyone to get their children married to prestigious families, a detail that Kalki would've mentioned in the novel. This played a part in the film.
The scene could also be looked at as a subtle takedown of patriarchy…
Yes, none of the chieftans really react when Kundavai makes this speech. But the entire scene's purpose is reflected in Pazhuvettariayar's face. Only he feels her impact.
The scene begins with Chola Chola and ends with that superb climax where he beheads Veerapandiyan. How did that fall into place?
The scene was written multiple times with different variations. Who should Karikalan talk to for this scene? Should he pour his heart out to Kundavai or Parthibendra (Vikram Prabhu)? He couldn't have spoken to Vanthiyathevan, because he sent him off to Thanjai. So, where do we place this scene? These were some of the questions that we had to address. The scene took us several rounds of writing.
Without Veerapandian's murder, there is no story to Ponniyin Selvan. Only because of this, Karikalan doesn't go to Thanjavur. So, this was very important to the story. There is no purpose for either Karikalan or Nandini without this scene. It’s also important to note that the entire scene unfolds as his memory.
The door opens and closes twice when Karikalan finds Nandini with Veerapandian. The scene brilliantly depicted his anguish without really saying much. Do such details make it in the writing process itself?
That was completely Mani sir's excellence. You cannot write something like that. When Vikram stood there, Mani sir would’ve visualised something like that. In the book, Kalki writes "Kadhavai etti mithithukondu, Aditha Karikalan Nandiniyai udaithuthallivittu Veerapandiyanin thalaiyai koythu eduthu chendran (Aditha Karikalan pushes Nandini and plucks Veerapandiayan’s head and leaves.)"
In the book, nobody really knows what happens in the room. Karikalan follows a trail of blood and finds Veerapandian with Nandini, beheads Veerapandiyan and walks away with his head. This is something that is referred to many times in the book. But, we had to depict it on screen. The song ended up being a clean tool for us to tell Karikalan's story of young love, his grief and end it with a bang.
Was this an easy scene to write?
It was a very long sequence in the book. When Vanthiyathevan meets Nandini, he is struck by her beauty, but is also a bit shaken. But when he meets Kundavai, he is completely flustered. Vanthiyathevan has a big fear of water in the novel. This was condensed into the line "Enakkaga thanniyil gudhipeeragala," by Kundavai. This was a scene that was the least difficult. This was placed well in the novel even in terms of the order, so it was a happy thing to execute.
When you adapt a novel, you are very conscious of not missing the highpoints in the book. This was one such scene that we didn't want to miss. We wrote a lot of versions for the scene, such as the two of them moving in horses and speaking to each other after getting down. And finally we decided to place the scene on the boat.
How did you differentiate Vanthiyathevan’s feelings for Kundavai from his fascination towards Nandini?
Karthi would have perfectly differentiated his feelings for the two women. With Kundavai, there is a certain sense of happiness, but with Nandini, there is caution. This was there in the writing. Mani sir also made sure to make everything look so real. If you watch the film again, you’ll realise how Mani sir ensured that characters kept walking from one place to another. For instance, we had characters walking from the Chola palace and reaching the exteriors so seamlessly to make audiences believe that the palace wasn’t a set.
What were some of the decisions that led you to place this scene at the end?
A majority of the audience coming in to watch this film wouldn't have read the books. So, we needed a scene to give such audiences something to look forward to in the end. "Who is this woman who looks just like Nandini? What is their relationship?" During one of our readings of the film, we decided to have this part in the climax.
Tell us how you adapted Oomai Rani from the book.
Even without Oomai Rani, the story can move forward. But Oomai Rani was important for audiences to understand Nandini's emotional backing. This is why we retained her character. It was quite difficult to write her character because in the book, Kalki would’ve taken her into a world of fantasy. She would be everywhere — all kinds of animals would listen to her. She would ride the elephant, horse, save a deer, come to the palace — she was like a ghost. We stuck to exploring who she is and how she is related to Nandini. You will know the conclusion of this in PS-2.