Ponniyin Selvan 1 had a cliffhanger ending, with the titular character Arunmozhi Varman (Jeyam Ravi) drowning along with Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan (Karthi) while a mysterious old woman, later revealed to be Mandakini Devi/Oomai Rani (Aishwarya Rai) attempt to save the duo.

The sequel begins with the rescue of this pair, and sees the plan by Nandini, the vengeful princess of Pazhuvoor (Aishwarya Rai) and the Pandyas' Mercenaries destroy their reign from the inside almost succeed. 

However, an interesting turn of events and some sudden change of hearts help the Cholas to stay together and face an old but reinforced threat that come their way.

 

In many ways, PS 2 appears as an improvement from its predecessor. This could be due to Mani Rathinam & Team condensing the major events of the 2000+paged book and bringing them up in PS 1 itself.

This makes PS 2's narrative simpler. The pacing of the plot is also smoother when compared to its predecessor and the actions of the characters appear acceptable.

The unrequired stuffing of A.R.Rahman's brilliant scores is also avoided and unleashed when needed. The only area that appears weaker is the stunt department.

Overall PS 2 punches within its weight, not above nor below.