Please welcome Bala Jeyaraman- the only person, as far as I know, who's set up a cool site on Ponniyin Selvan...
Well B...gotcha at last! I was wondering when you'd turn up. You've certainly given a new perspective.:-) Pinagapani? Hmmm...
1) Pinagapani is sort of presented as a comic figure from the start - that sort of comic figure, who gets beaten up often ( slapstic variety?). Its disturbing to see the comic relief done away with unceremoniously.
Kalki probably wanted to make him as stupid in death as he was in life. Comic, hasty and narrow-minded. After all, in an epic this big, you need to have some comic relief.:-)
3) There is no need for pinagapani to die. he could have been easily made a lunatic ( to fill up the void karuthiruman leaves?) or a recruit of "abathudavis". Death was the last fate i expected for him.
Whyever not? Comic characters have as much a right to die *tragic* deaths as heroes and heroines, I think. To have Pinagapani as a lunatic languishing in prison or elsewhere would only mean a repetition- of sorts. Besides, there're too many lunatics in the story as it is.:-)
Its indeed a sad demise of pinaagapani alias "pazhayaarai vaithiyar magan" but even more disturbing is Manimegalai's death. She fell in love with VandhiyaThevan. Manimegalai was used by Nandhini in her plots to kill Athithan. She turn to be lunatic but very deeply attached to Vandhiyathevan. The last lines of Po.Se, "ini kurumbu niraintha vanthiyadevanai kaana mudiyaathu, avan nenjil manimegala theivam kudiyeri vittaal.." this brings tears into your eyes! She was a victim of "RAJA THANTHIRAM" played by everyone including Kunthavai & vandhiyathevan. She was an innocent character but doomed to bloom.