WHY PONNIYIN SELVAN IS SO SPECIAL?- BOOK REVIEW-07

We all know that Ponniyin Selvan is a great classical book series and a story that many directors wanted to make right from MGR and is now being made by Maniratnam. What makes Ponniyin Selvan so special?

1.Character Development:

Each and every character has a character arc. Owing to the story, a character evolves from its initial stage. The specialty is that we believe the changes in their character as it is shown with flashbacks and pieces of evidence. You will definitely become a fan of one or many characters of this series after reading. That is for sure.

2.Environment Setting:

Kalki is a magician. Period. He sets you in a world that existed 1000 years ago. He won’t just enter into the story. He explains what is happening in the place where the story occurs which he uses as a way to use our imagination to set up our own brain-screen. He uses the natural resources of the area to set the scene.

3.Connection with History:

The storyline of this series is based on the real happening. But he added extra drama, extra characters, and events to make it more interesting. What it does to a guy like me is that, as it is based on the true story, I am already in the state of believing the story and the characters.

4.Intriguing

Reading is generally a tedious process for people like me. We easily get glued to a visual medium. But, with just using texts, he makes sure that we will turn the pages as fast as possible and reach the end of it.

5.Lots of Cliffhangers:

Why are web series so addictive? They end each episode at a high point which makes us watch the next episode to know what really happened. What if a book follows the same? The answer is ponniyin selvan. As it came out as a weekly article in 1950s, in order to make the audience stick to reading his pages, Kalki has ended each with a cliffhanger. You may even find many cliffhangers in the same chapter.

6.Research:

Kalki has undertaken a lot of research on the history and the places that are shown in this series. He himself travelled to Sri Lanka twice to research the places where the story happens in Sri Lanka. He did the same for places in Tamil Nadu too. Due to his extensive research, his description of the flora and fauna of the places are vivid and which makes us a distant companion of the traveller in the story.

7.Right Mix:

Kalki has somehow got the right mix of humour and mystery which can make even an average story exciting. But here, as the story itself is too good, his right mix made it an extraordinary read.

Ponniyin Selvan is not just a series of books. It is a magical journey to medieval Tamil Nadu. Read it to live it.