*******************Sivakamiyin Sabatham Spoiler Warning*****************
Paranjothi - the name itself brings to mind prosperous kanchi of 7th - 8th century of tamil novels. A traveller in search of a teacher, he loses his way and ends up as the commander of armed forces for pallavas.
His chance encounter with Mahendravarman, king of pallava dynasty at that time puts him on the career track of a military commander with them instead of their rivals, chalukyas. His unwitting involvement in political intrigues makes him more mature in handling matters of state. His tendency to believe in the goodness of whoever helps him makes him a target for every side involved in the conflict over kanchi.
The tension in his friendship with the future king of pallavas, Narasimhavarman brings out the differences between the characters. Narasimhavarman is literally the kid with golden spoon in his mouth who spends his time going after sivakami. Paranjothi is not portrayed as a ladies' man. Instead, he is the rock on whom Mahendravarman depends to ensure Narasimhavarman will lean on in his future conflicts. He is satisfied with the girl his mother has arranged for him back in his village. With the marriage question resolved, he is free to prioritize better compared to Narasimhavarman.
At the end of it all, Paranjothi comes out better than Narasimhavarman in most aspects. He leads pallava armies to glorious victories and when he gets tired of it all, takes sanyas. Narasimhavarman marries the pandian princess as a political consolidation measure and does not marry sivakami in the end. As hard as the restraining influence of Paranjothi was, Narasimhavarman's inability to get rid of the influence of sivakami causes the destruction of a whole dynasty and its capital city.
