Mani Ratnam talks about glorification of violence in films ahead of Ponniyin Selvan 2: ‘War sequences should be…’

Filmmaker Mani Ratnam is gearing up for the release of the second part in the Ponniyin Selvan franchise next week. He feels the only way to decide how much violence is too much violence in mainstream cinema is when the focus rests on creating the mood, while shooting such sequences, and not on the details of it. Also read: Aishwarya Rai reigns supreme once again as Nandini who seeks revenge from Cholas. Watch Ponniyin Selvan 2 trailer

In the recent past, there’s been a lot of debate on the glorification of violence in Indian cinema. In Vetrimaaran’s Viduthalai: Part 1, which was released two weeks ago, the filmmaker was criticised by a section of the audience for his depiction of violence in the form of police brutality.

Mani Ratnam, who has shot elaborate war sequences in Ponniyin Selvan 2, feels filmmakers should restrict themselves by focusing on creating mood than on the detail, when it comes to violence. The film features Jayam Ravi in the role of Arulmozhivarman, while Vikram, Karthi, Trisha and Aishwarya Rai are seen in other key roles.

“When you’re telling the story to a child, you automatically know where to draw the line. But when you’re making a film for the mainstream audiences, and people of all age groups can walk in, you should focus on creating the mood. When you’re shooting war sequences, it has to be real. But at the same time you can’t fantasise it. You can’t make it unreal… The restriction that you (filmmaker) put yourself in is to create a mood, not the detail,” Mani Ratnam told Hindustan Times.

Ponniyin Selvan 2 is gearing up for release on April 28. The first part told the story of the early life of Arulmozhivarman (Ponniyin Selvan), who would go on to become the Chola emperor Rajaraja I (947–1014). Ponniyin Selvan 2 went on to gross over ₹500 crore at the box office worldwide after being released in September 2022. In Tamil Nadu, PS1 went on to become the highest grossing Tamil film of all time after surpassing Kamal Haasan’s Vikram’s lifetime gross of ₹183 crore in the state.

The film marked Aishwarya Rai’s comeback to Tamil cinema after a decade. Aishwarya was playing dual roles – Nandini and her mute mother Mandakini Devi. Upon release, both audiences and critics were impressed with Aishwarya’s performance.

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