In terms of antiquity, the chicken and egg conundrum might predate it, but the question of movies versus books is also in the same philosophical league. It’s impossible to nail a theoretically acceptable answer, while empirical explanations may be aplenty. Sometimes, it just boils down to a personal preference.
As we await Mani Ratnam’s interpretation of Kalki Krishnamurthy’s Ponniyin Selvan to play out on the silver screen, it is but natural that this age-old question is once again dragged, kicking and screaming, into the public realm.
Ponniyin Selvan — unfairly as some fans think — was a grossly underrated epic. In truth, it was an expansive narration of Chola history that never got its due in the world. The novel dwells extensively on the conspiracy to assassinate the crown princes of Sundara Cholan, the events that followed, and the eventual succession of the second son Arulmozhi Varman, who was to achieve everlasting fame as Raja Raja Chola 1. It certainly had every reader wrapped around its five volumes in rapture.