Yaathisai Movie Review: Yaathisai, the latest Tamil period film with an all-new cast, will be compared to Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan – 2, which is set to be released a week after Yaathisai; both films are period dramas with a fictionalized take on history, focusing on renowned Tamil kingdoms.
Dharani Rasendran’s Yaathisai is a film with sufficient gravitas and individuality to stand on its own. On the one hand, it occasionally lacks the finesse of a Mani Ratnam film, but it’s also much more grounded, brutal, and primal in its form, and can be compared to Zack Snyder’s 300 in that regard — yes, you read that correctly!
Yaathisai wants you to overlook a number of superficial flaws, including the distracting CGI blood, the melodramatic dialogue delivery of a few actors, and the straightforward staging of a few scenes.
And, although the effort is commendable, it takes a few minutes to adjust to some characters speaking in 7th-century Tamil. However, what lies beyond these initial obstacles is genuinely impressive.
Yaathisai takes itself very seriously throughout its entirety, and the writer means business from the moment he begins narrating his narrative. An elderly member of the Einar clan recounts how 15 years ago, Kodhi (Seyon), a young, fiery member of their clan, challenged the mighty Pandiyan monarch Ranadheeran (Shakti Mithran), who had defeated the massive coalition army of the Cheras and Cholas.
And he tells the captive son of Ranadheeran this information. Note that this is not a tale told to a son about his father, as is typically the case, nor is it a tale of one monarch challenging another. Fearing death during the Great Chera-Pandiya war, a number of surviving Chola clans sought refuge in the dense forests, living helplessly as ‘hunting nomads,’ as one historian describes it.
Yaathisai is the narrative of a soldier from a lower-ranking Chola clan, numbering in the hundreds, who seeks to defeat a Pandiyan monarch who rules from the castle of the defeated Cholas. As the elderly man continues his narration, the world of Yaathisai grows and grows.
The most astounding accomplishment of the film is how a first-time director and an inexperienced production managed to create a period film of this magnitude.
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Consider the two major action sequences; the first occurs when Kodhi first encounters Ranadheeran, and the second, a stunning sequence, involves the Einar Clan and the Perumpalli Clan clashing.
Apart from the well-choreographed action involving hundreds of stuntmen, they are also up close and brutal, placing us right in the middle of the gore-fest, to the point where you wince despite the occasional irritation of the CGI-created blood and wounds.
Yaathisai takes itself very seriously throughout its entirety, and the writer means business from the moment he begins narrating his narrative.
An elderly member of the Einar clan recounts how 15 years ago, Kodhi (Seyon), a young, fiery member of their clan, challenged the mighty Pandiyan monarch Ranadheeran (Shakti Mithran), who had defeated the massive coalition army of the Cheras and Cholas. And he tells the captive son of Ranadheeran this information.
Note that this is not a tale told to a son about his father, as is typically the case, nor is it a tale of one monarch challenging another.
Fearing death during the Great Chera-Pandiya war, a number of surviving Chola clans sought refuge in the dense forests, living helplessly as ‘hunting nomads,’ as one historian describes it.
Yaathisai is the narrative of a soldier from a lower-ranking Chola clan, numbering in the hundreds, who seeks to defeat a Pandiyan monarch who rules from the castle of the defeated Cholas. As the elderly man continues his narration, the world of Yaathisai grows and grows.
Read More –
The most astounding accomplishment of the film is how a first-time director and an inexperienced production managed to create a period film of this magnitude.
Consider the two major action sequences; the first occurs when Kodhi first encounters Ranadheeran, and the second, a stunning sequence, involves the Einar Clan and the Perumpalli Clan clashing.
Apart from the well-choreographed action involving hundreds of stuntmen, they are also up close and brutal, placing us right in the middle of the gore-fest, to the point where you wince despite the occasional irritation of the CGI-created blood and wounds.
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