Raavan

Mani Ratnam is the undisputed heir to the legacy laid by the great Indian auteurs like Guru Dutt, Satyajit Ray, Raj Kapoor and Shayam Benegal. If movies like Roja, Bombay, Yuva were the cornerstones of his career then Raavan would definitely be the crowning jewel. Despite being a rendition of the Ramayana, Raavan is avant garde on countless fronts. The cinematography of the movie is both detailed and picturesque, and enormously adds to its poignant beauty. Mani dauntlessly transforms the eternal saga of the Ramayana into a much profound tale which transcends the trite theme of virtue versus vice; a gigantic task which a lesser director could have easily botched. The tone of the movie is set right from the first scene and gets enhanced with subsequent scenes. The pristineness of the movie gives it an uncanny charm that makes the viewing experience, titillating and nigh ineffable. The picaresque theme of the movie may appear to be commonplace, but movie's exotic backdrop and meticulous execution make it augustly unique.

The first half of the movie is deliberately paced which gives it a poetic effect that is seldom associated with contemporary Indian movies. Rehman's plaintive score lulls the viewer into a state of trance which sustains beyond the length of the movie.

Abhishek Bachchan outdoes himself as an actor in the portrayal of glacial yet vulnerable, Beera, a part which required subtlety and brusqueness in equal parts. Mani Ratnam is known to get the best out of his actors, and even he would be proud of Bachchan's performance in Raavan. Incidentally, it was Mani Ratnam who helped Bachchan get rid of the ham status by trusting him with parts in Yuva and Guru. Aishwarya Rai gives a thorough performance doing full justice to her talent and pulchritude. During the course of the movie, one incredibly gets to see her in all the nine rasas (essential aspects or energies that define a set of emotions and moods). Govinda is invidiously under used in the movie and hence fails to leave an impact. The rest of the cast has given commendable performances with a special mention of Bhojpuri actor, Ravi Kishan.

Barring a few redundant scenes, Raavan is consummate in every sense of the word, and has enough to fascinate the masses, awe the critics, and teach the students of cinema. In fact, it will undoubtedly serve as a benchmark for the movies in years to come.

PS: Raavan is a must watch for those who love Hindi cinema and for those who want to acquaint themselves with it. 9/10

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Raavan starts with a fascinating premise. After all, what can be worthier than watching a modern-day adaptation of the Ramayana made by Mani Ratnam himself? Upon release, the movie failed spectacularly, but I did not really care and still wanted to see it. And well, I was surely disappointed. Mani Ratnam is a very fine filmmaker, and his Dil Se is one of my favourite films. As expected, the film is a true visual treat - the cinematography is plain excellent and at times even manages to make up for many of the film's flaws. Some scenes are just a pleasure to watch, and the camera work is overall spectacular. But on the whole, as a film Raavan just really does not work, and what should and could have been gripping and captivating ends up being messy, uneven, uninteresting, and sadly, at times even boring. The problem is the script, and no matter how hard you try, at the end of the day the defining feature is always the content. Maybe the problem is with me, but I can assure that I tried to enjoy it, but couldn't. A.R. Rahman composes a nice soundtrack for the film, and it often fits the proceedings, but the background score is exaggerated. The many sadistic scenes in the movie fail to hold interest, although the action and the stunts are quite impressive. The final sequences get a bit better, but again, it's not enough.

Where acting goes, the movie is mostly a letdown. Abhishek Bachchan, in the title role, is miscast. He is never convincing enough, and looks rather artificial and unnatural while trying to portray a role that is quite demanding and ambiguous. Similarly, a beautiful Aishwarya Rai is, for the most part, painfully bad. She systematically overacts, screaming and shouting arduously even when it's completely unnecessary, and overall she just fails to portray her character's gradual growth and capture its feisty nature. It's quite saddening particularly in a year when she delivered a marvelous performance as the strong and strict Sofia in Guzaarish. One can easily imagine these two lead roles from Raavan handled with much more success by more capable actors, but in their favour it can be said that their chemistry is very good and it's evident that they feel comfortable working with each other. The ending and the climactic scene are quite a turning point, but they too are not sufficient to make the movie worth-watching. Raavan is certainly not an unwatchable movie experience as many have suggested, but it's just not good enough. The movie is clearly benefited from its cinematographic excellence which makes it quite a good watch at points, but this is not a good movie make, and all-in-all, Raavan is a disappointment.

I was waiting for these three movies for more than one year. Kites was outside the boundary of discussion. For Rajneeti, so many scope was available for improvement, even in my perception there was no innovation or creativity in Rajneeti. After double disappointment my hope was very high with Raavan, which is bad, even in case of above average movie you'd feel that movie was not good or bad. But Raavan fulfill all of my hopes and I'm writing this review with a positive mood. Everything in movie is great i.e. acting, music, background score, cinematography everything but the best part of the movie is creativity and deep thinking in story. In the first part you'll enjoy the beautiful jungle scenes and rain but thinking and creativity comes in the second half of the movie, even in the end. If you have some deep knowledge of Ramayana then you'll enjoy this movie at its best. My recommendation is, just go to the movie. This is kind of movie which you can't miss. And don't forget to discuss the concept of movie with your friends. Rating 9/10

Mani Ratnam's direction, like the story and his screenplay, has sectional appeal. While his narration will be loved by the class audience, it will be found far less appealing by the masses. Also, his twist in the climax is a red mark on the film's report card. A.R. Rahman's music score is very good. 'Beera Beera' is a hit number. 'Behene de', 'Kata kata' and 'Thok de killi' are also appealing songs. 'Khilli re khilli' stands out for Aishwarya's dance. Song picturisations, mostly on heavenly and unusual locations further enhance the appeal of the songs. Even otherwise, choreography (Ganesh Acharya, Brinda, Shobhana and Astad Deboo) is marvellous. Santosh Sivan and V. Manikandan's cinematography befits the extraordinary locations on which the film has been shot, making the visual impact simply astounding. Action scenes (Peter Hein and Sham Kaushal) are very exciting. Sreekar Prasad's editing is crisp.

On the whole, Raavan will remain a film for the classes mainly. It will do well in select multiplexes of big cities but not at many other places and in single-screen cinemas. Its weird climax is its biggest minus point and that will spell doom for the film. Considering its cost, it will entail huge losses to its worldwide distributor (Reliance Big Pictures).

I will rate ***/**********.(3/10)

From the trailer and the general talk, you might have guessed the basic premise. Raavan (Abhishek Bacchhan) kidnaps Sita (Aish). Ram (Vikram), with the help of Hanuman (Govinda) tries to get Sita back and kill Raavan. Of course, the motivation for Raavan's abduction of Sita is the insult of Surpanaka (Priyamani). What if this basic premise constitutes the entire movie with nothing else? The movie is going to suck & that is what Raavan is. What makes the original Ramayan interesting is the many many interesting characters and subplots without which even it would be uninteresting. This is where Raavan fails.

The plot is as thin as a razor blade. Screenplay is one jumbled mess especially in the 1st half. Mani Ratnam is my most favourite Indian director & it is really really hard for me to digest that he had directed this mess.

Abhishek Bacchhan was absolutely irritating as Beera. Since his only good performances were in Yuva & Guru which were directed by Mani, I thought he will be good as Beera. But what an irritating interpretation of the role! Aish's only duty in the movie was to look beautiful and scream at regular intervals which she does greatly. Vikram has nothing much to do. His character was badly written. Priyamani is good in her brief appearance. Govinda and Ravi Kishan are the two bright spots as far as acting department is considered.

The locations and cinematography are breathtaking to say the least. Raavan is a heavy contender in the next award season as far as cinematography is considered. The same goes for music. Rahman gave a great music and background score. But since general public wouldn't be interested in only photography and music, I can see empty theaters and a doomed future for the movie. I will be happy if I'm wrong. I really can't believe Mani Ratnam has directed this entirely from his heart.

I've seen each one of Mani's movies of the last 25 years & without doubt Raavan is Mani Ratnam's most uninteresting movie. The first half is as dumb as you can get. The entire 1st half is like one long personal holiday photo-shoot of AbhiAsh with some exotic background views. The 2nd half is slightly better but on the whole, Raavan is a 140 minute advertisement for the beauty of Aish & India's forests.

I also wanted to see Villain (Raavan in Telugu) because of Vikram who plays Raavan in this version. But after this experience, I neither have the patience nor energy to do it. May be some time after the DVD comes out.