Raavanan

The much hyped Raavanan having released, I was one of the lucky few who got to watch it on the first day. The story in its most basic senses, is a modern adaptation of the Indian epic 'Ramayana'. But Mani Ratnam has brought to this movie a magical touch that would indeed change the trend of movies to come in Indian cinema.

The movie is a tale of revenge and vengeance that Veeraiya (Vikram) unleashes on the people responsible for the death of his sister. To teach them a lesson he ends up kidnapping Ragini (Aishwarya Rai) and lures the cops right into his trap. Even though Ragini was his captive her attitude and approach towards things only makes his feelings grow stronger for her everyday ! The movie focuses on Veeraiya and all the multiple voices and thoughts in his head that refer to "Raavanan" from Ramayana. But only as the movie progresses do we find out his real character and the reason for such a transformation.

The beauty of this film and the most appealing factor is the cinematography adapted. The camera work was so brilliant that it would make anyone stare in amazement at how beautiful they have shown each and every thing on screen. Not once was there a dull moment as the positioning and timing of every scene was in sync with every other aspect. A R Rahman has given life to the movie with the background music and songs he has to offer. The songs were timed so perfectly that not once would you feel that there was no necessity of a song being shown there. Watch out for the cinematography in "Usure pogudhey". And the bgm for each sequence being unique made you literally connect with the things happening on-screen !

On a further note another technical point of excellence seen in this movie is the make-up and costumes used. Be it the black soot or sandhanam smothered all over Vikram's face or the many scratches and bleeding cuts on Aishwarya, the make-up department has done its best to make the movie look as realistic as possible !

When it came to acting, needless to say the director Mr. Mani Ratnam brought out the best in each and every person cast in the movie. 'Veeraiya' would have been a disaster if it was portrayed by anyone else. Vikram outdid himself by giving his best performance till date. His aggressiveness and crazy mannered body language showed us that he was living in the character the whole time ! Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on her comeback to Tamil cinema after more than a decade has also pushed her acting skills to the limit. It is impossible to stop staring at her immense beauty and now, after her portrayal of the modern 'Sita' you just can't help but be in awe at how much she has to offer.

Raavanan, according to me is one of the finest movies made in Indian cinema. And i urge all you people out there to go watch it as soon as you can !

We know Mani Rathnam can handle epics quite easily and can twist it quite interestingly. Dalapathy starring Rajnikanth and Mamootty is the finest example. That is what I expected when I went to watch Raavanan. But watching the movie, I realized the story was never the center of attraction neither the direction of the maestro. What moved the movie along was the cinematography. Santosh Sivan and Manikandan have so effectively captured the beauty of the southern forests in the most mesmerizing manner.

Coming back to the story, we find nothing new added to the epic except for the fact that the good has now turned evil and vice-versa. At the end of the movie, after witnessing the glorious work of the cinematographer, especially the climax scenes, we sense something missing altogether and the truth beckons on us that there is no credible storyline to the whole affair.

SP Dev (Prithviraj) is on the look out for Veera (Vikram), a notorious tribal lord, a Robin Hood for many. He rules with his own laws and methods and this angers the police but are unable to do anything to capture him. To assist him there is Singarasu (Prabhu) and Chakkarai (Munna), his brothers. But soon something happens (revealed only in the second half) that makes Veera so revengeful that he kidnaps Dev's wife, Ragini (Aishwarya Rai). The rest of the story revolves around the Dev trying to rescue his wife with the help of Gnanapraksham (Karthick), a forest guard. The story moves on when the monstrous Veera starts a liking for Ragini.

There was a time when I watched Nayakan, Iruvar, Roja, Dalapathy all with great enthusiasm and what I received from these movies were really great satisfaction as a movie buff. But watching this film with the same enthusiasm I felt robbed off all my money I wasted on the tickets. This is not a bad film but it is clearly not what I expected from a Mani Rathnam film. His direction has not proved anything with this movie. The old Mani Rathnam had style and substance in his direction but now what remains is just the style. Style alone cannot pace a thriller forward. The new Mani Rathnam has not provided anything interesting in this movie. It seems like the crux of the whole movie lies on the camera work.

The acting of Vikram and Aishwarya Rai has to be applauded. They have given one of their finest performances. Vikram is like a vengeful monster who has kidnapped wife of the God-like figure on earth to settle a personal score. His performance is one of the highlights of the movie and which makes it watchable. It is a wonder we see such talent and beauty together and that is Aishwarya Rai; though her beauty is not of any relevance in the "plot" she has scored with a good performance. Prithiviraj as the tough cop has really matured into a fine actor. He has given a nice performance along with the other big names. Prabhu and Karthick have utilized their time on screen portraying their characters with ease and subtlety. Priyamani with her small cameo has given a memorable performance.

But all this taken, at the end, we find the story to be clichéd and hope that the screenplay would have been better. The screenplay and dialogues penned by Suhasini Mani Rathnam does not show any ease or effectiveness probably because the story line is weak. By the interval time we feel exhausted at all that has happened but still we realize nothing has moved along. Second half proves better because of the short stint of Priyamani on screen and the final 15 minutes of the movie. And those 15 minutes is the only part in the whole movie that show "some" shades of Mani Rathnam direction. The characterization is so weak we never get time to realize the good has turned evil and vice versa or is it because it was so obvious from all the promos.

A note on the music - AR Rahman is not at his best...but cannot say it was bad. It's okay and goes with the film smoothly.

The plus point of the movie is cinematography, acting and the last 15 minutes….

The movie deteriorates because of the absence of a fine story line and a poor screenplay which I believe are the most important materials in a film.

It is not one of the best Mani Rathnam films and it cannot be called a thriller as there is no remarkable storyline to boast off and excite us. Watch the movie to see some good acting. But mainly, watch the movie to witness the amazing locales where the movie was shot through the eyes of Santosh Sivan and Manikandan, especially the last cliffhanging fight between good and evil.

~ dillitalkies.blogspot.com ~

Cud hv been great,, but for some mindless typical bollywoody popular chunks.....

A good adaption of the epic Ramayana to a movie experience. Conveyed the core of the story in a simple manner with a terrific performance from the crew, especially Vikram. The Portrayal of the veera character and the conversations between the lead role stands out in the movie. Hats off to Mani Ratnam for staging this movie in a great way and for the locations. The mood of the scenes is expressed more by the way they are made than by the dialogues (a typical MR way of storytelling). As usual ARR's BG score and songs add great value and strength to the movie. A good movie to watch. Just give it a watch!!!!!!!!!!

Ravanan is probably one of the hardest movies for which I'll be writing a review for. For most people who have already watched the movie, when they think in retrospect, it becomes easy to term it as 'very disappointing; or 'a complete waste of their time'. Well for one thing, this verdict shows the still conservative, yet to be unconventional mindset of the general audience towards Indian cinema. The most important aspect that I learnt after watching the movie was that, one cannot ever question a filmmaker's viewpoint, especially not of someone who has brought Indian cinema to great heights with movies such as guru and Bombay. Usually in the initial phase, a director has his thoughts aligned in a manner which only he can understand. It is converted to the screen only when he brings his ideas to everyone's comprehension. It is the latter fact that Mani Ratnam has not brought to complete satisfaction, which though he might be clear of, in a way puzzles the audience. In this film, the director has made us understand the importance of looking through a particular situation or argument through a different perspective, more specifically, a perspective which we might fear to judge. Ravanan can be said to have a definite storyline comprising that of a modern storyteller's as well as the ancient sage's. The modernized and refurbished version of the Ashokavanam episode and lanka war is re-enacted and cinematographed in different locations with different character descriptions and names, different, yet similar situations and most importantly looking from a different viewpoint, the perspective of Raavana himself, who we are accustomed to the knowledge that he is the villain.

The idea is different and definitely in the best of its ways. Not everyone is ready to take a blind shot at the vague parts of an epic like Ramayan and Mani Ratnam to the most part has handled the concept well. The support team including the expert actors have contributed to their best and have brought their abilities to near perfection. Vickram as Veera steals the movie with ease, giving one of his best performances. The fierceness in his depiction of modern day Raavana is apt and does quite a lot of justice to Valmiki's image of Raavana. Aishwariya rai who plays Ragini, modern day Sita otherwise, gives another artwork that will always remain as one of her pioneer roles and so do Prithviraj and Priyamani who play Dev (lord Rama) and modern day Shoorpanaka respectively. On the technical front, the music though not the best work of A.R. Rahman does pure justice to the theme of the story and BGM gives you a wonderful thrill. But, the most exemplary aspect of Ravanan is the direction of photography by Santosh Sivan and V. Manikandan. The lens men have captured the scenes in a manner seen never before in Indian cinema. The location, the camera angles and clarity are brought to near precision and gives the most delicious treat to the eyes of the viewers.

So what could be the possible letdown for the movie, to begin with, it lacks clarity towards the climax which most usually matters to the audience because it is the final sequence that tend to have the final impression on them. The ending is clouded with smoke giving no clear idea of the exact feelings of Ragini toward Veera and the tryout of grey shading Prithviraj's character tends to be a little more than required. The scene where he ruthlessly shoots Veera's brother gives us a feeling of hate towards dev and love for Veera. Apart from all these things, once you step out of the movie hall, you are forced to think back about the story, about the characters and most importantly, whether you liked the movie or not, you have a propensity of conflict in your mind about who was right and who was wrong. After all that's what cinema is all about, the primary aim is to make the audience analyze and contemplate and Mani Ratnam pulls of that objective with finesse. With Ravanan, the director has carved himself a niche in greatest epitome of Indian Cinema.