Ponnar Shankar Story Tamil Pdf F
Adeline Haverstock
The tale is a story of two brothers, known as Ponnar also known as Periya Annan (elder brother) and Shankar also known as Chinna Annan (younger brother), revered as the Annanmar Swami. The story has been recited and passed on as a folk tale through many generations in very rustic traditions as songs which were known as gramiya padalgal (folk songs) and have been enacted as folk entertainment through street theater which were known as Therru Koothu.
The Ponnar-Sankar story starts from their grandfathers. The chieftain of the Vazhavanthi country in Chera kingdom (part of Southern Namakkal district) was Kolaththa Gounder, eldest among the twelve brothers. Kolaththa Gounder and his wife Ariyanaachi decide to leave their country Perungudi because of the atrocities of his unjust brothers. They go to Mathukkarai to Goddess Sellandiya Amman temple.
For her part, Brenda has tried to pass on her interest in the story to younger generations by recreating it, with the help of Indo-Canadian Tamil folk artist Ravichandran Arumugam, as an animation film and graphic novels, both titled The Legend of Ponnivala .
She has a passion for South Asian mythology and Tamil folk stories, of which Annanmar Kadhai has been a favourite. She is the president of the Canadian charitable institution Sophia Hilton Foundation, that promotes the use of storytelling in education.
Pavithra Srinivasan reviews Ponnar Shankar. Post YOUR reviews here!
The first thing that needs to be understood when it comes to Lakshmi Shanti Movies' magnificently advertised 'historical' Tamil movie, Ponnar-Shankar, is that there's nothing even remotely historical about it.
Of course, the movie is based on M Karunanidhi's work by the same name, which is based on legends about warrior brothers among the Goundar community. But it is so commercialised, with half-clad women prancing in Jodhaa Akbar kind of jewellery, and incessant fights, wars and lame dialogues that you get incredibly disappointed.
What makes the movie even more painful to watch is that technically, this story had a lot of potential.
Soon, it's time for his daughter Thamarai (Khushboo) to be married, and he arranges for her to be married to the ruthless Mandhiappan (Prakashraj), ignoring a promise he made earlier that he would get Thamarai married to her cousin, Masaichamy (Jayaram), a meek man who was thrown out by Mandhiappan himself, his lands confiscated.
Masaichamy appears just in time to claim Thamarai's hand, and marries her. Thamarai's father who, until that moment supports her decision, suddenly turns against her. Her brother, Chinna Malai Kozhunthu (Ponvannan) vows that she will be reduced to wandering the streets. Thamarai makes an earth-shattering vow: she will have two sons who will marry her brother's daughters come what may.
Fast forward at least two decades, and we have a warrior, Rakiyannan (Raj Kiran), opposing his foe about opening a dam in an irrigation dispute. He calls upon Ponnar and Shankar to help him and hey presto! The twins (both played by Prashanth) practically waltz in on their horses, throw everyone around reassuringly with their bare hands and break open the dam with just a spear-throw.
Meantime, Mayavar (Nasser) arrives, white beard streaming on horseback. Through him we learn that Thamarai and her husband, having slowly built up their fortunes, are now quite wealthy. They have a daughter, Arukkani (Sneha), and here, Mayavar makes the great reveal: Ponnar and Shankar are, in fact, Thamarai's sons.
The twins visit a local festival held in honour of the goddess and meet two half-clad young women, Muthayi and Pavalayi (Divya Parameshwaran and Pooja Chopra). Love blooms after the girls are saved from a tornado on a calm lake.
From then on, there are battles, and more battles and confrontations, pointless conversations that lead nowhere, plenty of wooden acting, incredible stunts, an entire battle sequence lifted straight from The Battle of Helm's Deep, from the Lord of the Rings and many more.
In fact, there's plenty of evidence that Hollywood movies have proved the reference point to producer/director Thiagarajan. While it's heartening to see the lavish sets, courtesy art director R Muthuraj and Shaji Kumar's impressive cinematography, Ponnar-Shankar doesn't really capitalize on these strengths.
The dialogues are choppy, half in colloquial slang, half in chaste Tamil. Don Max's editing is half-baked, and many characters don't make sense. Logic has been thrown out of the window, and none of the major characters, except perhaps Raj Kiran, have any chance of performing.
Prashanth, shouldering the bulk of the movie, looks fit, trim and performs stunts with panache. Sadly, that's all that can be said of his performance. Most of time he's expressionless, and despite taking on the role of twins, there are absolutely no distinguishing characteristics for either. There's no emotional bond to be seen between the twins and you can't relate to their actions.
As for the actresses, never mind the fact that no one in Tamil Nadu's history would dress that way, there's nothing for them to do except smile. The costume department must shoulder the blame for the silly costumes.
The biggest drawback, though, is the fact that historical accuracy has been thrown to the winds. No time period is mentioned, there are no references to places or kings.
Perhaps realising the futility of the project, Ilaiyaraja has just skimmed the bare bones of his usually fulfilling musical compositions. The tunes are all generic, and though the background score rises and falls in operatic fashion, none of it gels.
As a historical movie, this one's an epic fail.
Rediff Rating:
The story penned by M. Karunanidhi, is about two brave warriors Ponnar and Shankar (Prashanth) who become the rulers of Ponni Valanadu and serve abundantly for the society. The story traces their birth, the difficulties and disgraces their mother Thamarai (Kushboo) and father Kundrudayan (Jayaram) face, family feuds and how goodness and bravery triumph over cowardice and evil minds.
Kudos to director Thiagarajan who has done an impressive job of adapting a historic story onto big screen. He has given equal importance to all the characters in the film and brought the best out of them. Be it the song involving 2000 dancers or the war sequences or the romantic scenes, the director shines in his work.
With a well knit screenplay, brisk narrative, slick editing, opulent sets, impressive technical back-up from all departments, and a huge ensemble cast of actors fitting in suitably, Thiagarajan brings magnificently on to screen, the legendary story of the brave warrior twins Ponnar and Shankar, who fought to save their village from subservience.
The story of Ponnar and Shankar had the potential, but inconsistent direction, editing and acting ensure that it doesn't fulfill any. On the plus side is the terrific work by the art director and cinematographer. But too many gaps in the story ensure that the movie never rises above its mediocrity ...(more)
Ponnar Shankar has everything required to make an old fashioned period drama. On the downside the film has no logic, weak storyline and there is continuity problem and loop holes in the plot. However at the end of the day the film is made like a big budget period drama with the intention to entertai...(more)
The society back in the time may have used rustic traditions prevalent, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants, to transmit oral history, oral literature, oral law and other knowledge across generations without a writing system. A narrower definition of oral tradition is sometimes maybe appropriate as well.
The legendary story of brothers, known as Ponnar also known as Periya Annan and Shankar also known as Chinna Annan, revered as the Annanmar Swami. The story has been recited and passed as a folk tale through many generations in very rustic traditions as songs which were known as gramiya padalgal or folk songs and have been enacted as folk entertainment through street theater which were known as Therru Koothu. The Ponnar-Sankar story starts from their grandfathers. The chieftain of the Vazhavanthi country in Chera kingdom (part of Southern Namakkal district) was Kolaththa Gounder, eldest among the twelve brothers belong to Perungudi clan of Kongu Vellalar gounders. Kolaththa Gounder and his wife Pavalaththal decide to leave their country Perungudi because of atrocities of his unjust brothers. They go to Mathukkarai to Goddess Sellandiya amman temple. In the temple, they find the three great kings, Chera King, Chola King and Pandya King sitting in front of the goddess and re-drawing their disputed tri-nation borders as process to bring lasting peace and stability. They are in a conundrum and cannot agree borders. Kolaththa Gounder finds a solution that is agreeable to all the three kings and resolves the disputes fairly. Impressed with this skills and solution Chola King gifts him the lordship to sizeable territory which back in the day could be akin to a size of a small country. The granted as gift was called Konad.
We are offended that a deity being named dalit can even be called an offensive act. We are offended at how legal backing is available for openly-casteist harassment. We are offended at news reports that present this case as a quaint little example of caste quibbling, without pointing to the long history of violence, without pointing to the continued conspiracy to maintain the status quo and culture of violence that this case is an outcome of.
Re-writing history from the perspective of the marginalised is necessary and vital for the self-determination of dalit communities. Now, such an effort is being criminalised. This is a threat to democracy and the pluralist ethos. This is an offence against free speech. We stand in solidarity with Thirumavalavan, MeenaKandasamy and Samya, in support of the subaltern perspective and assertion they stand for.
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