Raavan

Few months ago I read an interview of Naseerudin Shah in a daily. The interviewer asked him a question about today's state of Indian films. Naseer responded back quite disappointedly that with advancing technology and prolific role played by media, the producers-directors easily garnered the publicity hype and sell the well packaged material to the audience earning expected profit. Creativity only lies in making frames glamorous, stuffed it well with audience friendly emotional drama and promotes it well globally; yes we are good in wrapping but not in content.

Maniratnam's much hyped modern take on Ramayana reminds me Naseer's words. As an admirer of Maniratnam I was expecting from this film and he's the director who gave few brilliant films to Indian cinema like 'Nayakan', "Iruvar', 'Roja', 'Yuva'. Its noble intention to revisit our epic in modern context but when makers like him fails terribly with poor screenplay, shallow presentation, poor characterization and shoddy direction the epic becomes caricatured and loud product.

The first half of the film is so irritatingly direction less, monotonous and lifeless in everything (except Santosh Sivan's DOP) that I hate to see the second half in the interval. Mani shifted the gear in the second half and attempted honestly to make it gritty and reasonable one with few ingredients of action, twist and turn and wins the character and audience's sympathy for the antagonist. Looking at the performances both Aishwarya and Vikram seems so flat wearing typified expressions. Aishwarya has done nothing except shouting and frowning and she didn't look appealing too. Where's Mani's touch that directed her in 'Iruvar' and 'Guru'? Hope Vikram has done fairly well Tamil edition as antagonist but here he's less than average. Govinda and Ravikishan have stuffed more footage than entertaining the audience. Priyamani is quite impressive in her few minutes presence. It's only and only Abhishek who worked hard to uplift the film and seems impressive among all cast. Don't expect different expressions but watch his intensity and dedication to retain the character in couple of well acted scenes and I mean it that he's the sole reason to watch this film even though having many shortcomings. He saved the grace of Maniratnam as Maniratnam saved his in 'Yuva'.

Technically the film is rich with Santosh Sivan's camera-work as always filming some great landscape locations and Shyam Kaushal's brilliantly choreographed stunt on the bridge 2000 feet above (one of the best I've ever seen in Hindi cinema!) The opinion is mixed; the film entertains in bits and pieces but disappoints as a whole product.

Ratings-6/10

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

In fact, the making of this film is intriguing enough to compel me to want to watch both its Hindi version which I have done, and to compare it with the Tamil version Raavanan (with an almost similar casting) that is also simultaneously showing here (unfortunately without English subtitles). This Tamil version also got dubbed into Telugu and other regional languages for the Indian subcontinental market. With both versions being shot at the same time, what made it interesting in Ghajini-equivalent terms, is that the lead actress takes on the same role in both versions - Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays Ragini in both, while Vikram takes on the superintendent of police Dev in the Hindi film, then reverses his alignment to take on the villain in the Tamil version.

The basis of the story follows the three lead characters in a battle between good and evil as represented by Lord Ram and Ravana respectively, where the latter kidnaps the former's wife Sita, and woos her while she awaits her husband's rescue. To say more will be to give away the pivotal surprise at the end of this film, which in my opinion, stuck mostly with the spirit of the tale, and how it panned out with a surprise. In Mani Ratnam's film, the lines of good and evil are blurred into shades of grey, as he boldly suggested that not all good are virtuous, and sometimes evil gets committed if violence, threats and killings are somehow justified, albeit in personal terms.

We're plunged straightaway into the cat-and-mouse chase in the opening scene of the film, where we see Beera (Abhishek Bachchan as the Ravana equivalent) and his gang of merry men inflicting maximum carnage on police officers, where on one hand he's being hunted by the law, and on the other, celebrated by the rural poor villages as a hero. He's basically your anti- establishment Robin Hood kinda guy, fighting the corrupt powers that be and ensuring that the needs of the lower caste get taken care of. He seems to be walking wounded, and it'll take up until the opening of the second half of the film to understand his violent motivations.

Meanwhile, we follow Vikram's Dev (as the Lord Ram equivalent) and his troops as they arm themselves to the teeth and cuts through the forested region in which Beera's gang is hiding. We see from flashbacks that he's quite the devoted husband, and having his wife kidnapped by his mortal foe just seethes enough rage in him to use all means necessary to reclaim his wife. That, or perhaps it's his ego under siege? It's this singular obsession that gets unfolded over time, that we also learn his true motivations, and the kind of officer of the law he is.

Then there's Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's Ragini as the Sita equivalent, but no she doesn't sing, but is a classical dancer, to allow for some picturization over the brilliant A.R. Rahman's songs. Ragini isn't as strong as she thought she was, but in her fearlessness comes unseen courage to stand up to Beera when held as a captive, and treading really close to exhibiting the Stockholm Syndrome. The best parts that Aish has in the film is when she's allowed to emote her feelings alone along beautiful landscapes, opening up her inner desires and hopes of escape from the clutches of evil.

It's been some time since the husband and wife team starred in the same film (the last being Sarkar Raj) so Raavana comes as a treat to fans as they go up against one another as foes, friends and with that tinge of a romantic possibility as well, alongside a backdrop of water, water everywhere, from rain to wild rivers, and under strong waterfalls. While Aishwarya's performance is very restrained as the regal Ragini, her best moments were in the rare dance sequences that provided an additional dimension to A.R. Rahman's score, which was yet another crowning glory for the film, and provided a lift when the narrative dips at times. Abhishek proved that he can play crazy, and does so with aplomb as the unpredictable, schizophrenic even, Beera.

You'll be asked to have patience during the first half of the film as you can teased with flashbacks while having to endure the setting of the stage with the establishing of key characters. The film (kept just slightly over 2 hours) springs to life immediate post- intermission as the basis for the feud gets explained, and here you're likely to feel swung over to Beera's side, and offer sympathies to just what he's doing for the community, and for himself and family. Vikram brings about that macho flair as the super-cop hell bent on eradicating his arch-enemy, and his moment of truth lies in the superbly executed scene opposite Aishwarya when he begins his interrogation. It's a short scene, but a dramatic breather after an all-out fight choreography on a suspension bridge reminiscence from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, though here with plenty of obvious wirework.

I don't understand how this film could have garnered broadly negative reviews. As a Bollywood film it's beautifully shot, with big name stars bringing to life characters that are remotely familiar to an epic, a director with a vision bold enough to challenge convention and ruffle a few feathers with his spin on an epic. At times it's poetic in nature thanks to its music, and engages you to throw moral judgement on the leading characters as they evolve. If I have time, I'll probably be sitting in the Tamil version just to see how Vikram does his Ravana.

Mani Ratnam's much anticipated multi lingual Raavan (a.k.a Raavanan in Tamil) is a commendable and bold cinematic effort to recreate the timeless epic of Ramayana which embodies universally appealing values of heroism, jealousy , mistrust , revenge and evil. Though evil here is more about revealing the antihero in Raavan and seeing those same traits ironically reversed in Ram at another point in time. Ram here is Dev (played by Vikram)a duty bound cop with a single mission to bring down his nemesis Beera (played by Abhishek) who is the protector of the downtrodden but one who does not let morals come in his way. A much wanted criminal in the eyes of the law. His philosophy is almost a Mahabharata borrowed one of "ends justify the means". What drives him to do that one thing that bring hims onto a vengeful collision path with Dev is unveiled slowly during the movie . It all starts off with the abduction by Beera of the character based on Sita , represented as Ragini (played by Aishwarya). Ragini is the wife of Dev and this begins the odyssey set against some of the most spectacular landscapes shot most brilliantly and expectedly by Santosh Sivan.

Set against lush forests, deep gorges, inundated streams and constant cleansing of the earth by the abundant rain, Ragini tied and gagged is dragged along by Beera, with Dev and his band of other cops in pursuit. Beera is an unusual specimen, intense , unpredictable, maniacal yet a character with whom one does start forming a bond of affection and empathy as we realise a certain lovable and humane side of his character. Abhishesh plays Beera industriously , trying to get under the skin of the character even though there are mannerisms which could have been handled more subtly but then that is the directors outlook. In all a performance worth acknowledging set against the often churned out mediocrity of Bollywood. One can't ever relegate Aishwarya to the background and not the least here because she is the focal point of the movie, the one who is subjected to a cruel fate. She does portray her character with intensity but what annoys is her voice and associated intonation and that creates a certain hamming like effect. No doubt sensing the potential of such a role, she does seem to have put in that little extra effort. Her beauty, with time has not waned and she is graceful and classic at most times. Dev played by Vikram is powerful for the action sequences and when he is angry but surely Mani Ratnam should not be compromising on the power of speech expecting delivery in Hindi from a chap who is not a natural Hindi speaker. Govinda plays the character based on Hanuman and is at best a very marginal role. Others including brothers of Beera and the aggrieved step sister of Beera player by Priyamani are all just about OK. Now the reason that I believe this is not a memorable movie is on account of the fact that Mani Ratnam has excessively depended on visuals and even facial expressions to attempt to create a unique experience but this comes at the expense of dialogues which lack the punch and often is mistimed. The narrative does not really dig deep into the characters and reveal their flaws and strengths. Abhishek has done what he could as his best but was he the best choice? Finally the climax and the last 30 mins of the movie is a lot more engaging and does eventually make you leave the movie hall with a fair amount of satisfaction but with a lingering doubt as to if this is indeed the best we can now expect from Mani Ratnam ? Once you have finished watching the movie in a movie hall (not on DVD), think of the opening sequence.

If you are the one who is ready to pay your hard earned money just to watch great cinematography then this movie is for you, otherwise skip it.

performance wise, a lot was expected from Abhishek but he disappoints, all he did is trying to look like a Raakshas and quacks like a duck every now and then 'bak bak bak bak', Aishwarya, you cant blame her much, because she never was an actor, all she does in this movie is to scream loudly in her ugly voice, Vikram doesn't have much role in this movie, he is OK. and finally Priyamani, she had only few scenes and she is simply superb. oh no! i forgot to mention Govinda, Mani smartly chose Govinda for the Hanuman role, as Govinda's acting always reminded us the monkey antics This is the first ever Mani Ratnam movie which has really disappointed me.

all in all, wait for the DVD release