Raavanan

I watched this movie again after 10 years and my viewing has been better now . This film underplayed many things and definitely it's not a love film ..different way of storytelling and movie is worth for Chiyan alone ...Though I'm a thalapathy Vijay fan Chiyaan impresses me all the time

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 ~

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.

There is a terrifying sequence during Mani Ratnam's Raavanan, or 'Villain' out of the Tamil language and into the English one, that sees two hard-bodied men, both specialists in what it is they do either side of the line of the law, duking it out on board a delicate rope bridge hovering above a drop, which will bring about certain death, as its gradual falling apart syncs up with how much the two men's hating of one another escalates during this fight – such are the lengths you'd probably go for Aishwarya Rai. The sequence carries with it a great deal of both horror and trepidation, principally because it is as a fight to the death and we genuinely feel someone is going to get seriously hurt, but additionally because we are inclined naturally to get behind one man and yet are simultaneously invited to root for the other. This recent Indian film, about the good guy not necessarily being all that nice and the titular villain not necessarily being as evil nor as one dimensional as one would assume, is a sweeping and deeply involving piece; a film it is difficult not to get as involved in as I did; a film with a concise and interesting idea at its core, before efficiently going on to explore such items in an exciting and cinematic manner.

We begin with a series of sequences highlighting a real disregard to police officers, or those of whom stand for law and authority; the merciless execution of several Indian police officials and the rampaging through their offices carried out with brutal precision. Those perpetrating the chaos are followers loyal to that of Veeraiya (Vikram), an influential and physically toned individual whom occupies lonely forestry up in the rural nowheres of India with his minions; a man whom the police so desperately desire to catch and someone who shares some back-story with that of local police chief named Dev Subramaniam (Prithviraj), against whom this war on the machine of law and order is effectively raged. Dev is equally inclined towards his job, carrying with him respective characteristics of influence and physicality only dedicated to fighting for the polar opposites to that of what Veeraiya strives towards. The existence between the two becomes particularly heightened when Veeraiya takes it on himself to kidnap Dev's wife, a Sita named Ragini played by the aforementioned Rai; thus kicking into action all sorts of strife and hard-edged plights which formulates the bulk of the film as Dev and a crack team of commandos plus one eccentric forest expert take it upon themselves to find her.

Dragged through the jungles, Ragini's appearance as a smart, photogenic and outspoken woman amidst an array of disparate Veeraiya-led troops consisting of various unshaven; overweight and cross dressing individuals, is stark. She manages to hold her corner; to philosophise and later comes to instill some sort of thinking or order into the wild society of fear and gangsterism she finds herself enraptured in, a society encapsulated by Veeraiya's own uncontrollable characteristic of having several disconnected, sporadic voices inside of his head at once which is challenged. Principally, it is a film exploring the duality Ragini has with her captor; Mani Ratnam's piece a text rife with varying elements of Stockholm Syndrome pausing for thought and refraining form merely relegating Ragini to that of the damsel requiring rescuing. The film does so in providing her with scenes and exchanges that she shares with her captors that are full of life and energy; something that runs in deliberate contrast to that of the police and their searchings, which gradually become more and more anonymous as motions are gone through and sequences that we've all seen before of them hunting through wildlife, or whatever, are provided.

Running with the same theme, the idea is captured by way of a terrific dance number at the bandit's jungle-set abode; a number which celebrates, despite their ways, individualism and a living of their own way of life with their own infrastructures and foundations - something placed into contrast to that of the officials and their blank nature and preordained demeanour, gradually becoming more and more anonymous in comparison to Veeraiya and his clan's exaggerated and spontaneous existence. A further instance of this subverting of the respective male leads and their personas is in Veeraiya's raiding of a local police camp; the uncovering of his file mugshot seeing him verbally identify the brooding, threatening anonymity of the hulking terrorist criminal in comparison to what he feels is truthfully there in relation to him.

The scenes between Ragini and Veeraiya carry with them a real sense of shift and change in that, as she fights him and he subdues her attacks, his face brushes through her hair during a physical evading; something executed in such a manner that when Ragini has some linen brushed across her own face when another attack is foiled on another occasion involving Veeraiya, their sharing of the the same physical sensations born out of similar catalysts suggest an echoing of respective internal responses. In spite of my comment made in jest about what one would do to get Aishwarya Rai back, there is this burning question hanging over proceedings, even highlighted by those within, as to whether Dev chases the villain out of personal motivation due to his wife's taking, or professional levels born out of the fact he has hated Veeraiya for a lot longer than he has loved Ragini. The drama born out of this ambiguity, of which, works well. The film is a really involving; well made and taut thriller whose undercurrent of forbidden romance as the idyllic Indian wife is allured by that of the bandit, and he himself by a human he cannot push around nor merely tame, is set up and explored wonderfully well; a rousing and involving film one cannot help but recommend.

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