Starring :- Abhishek Bachan , Aishwarya Rai Bachan , Vikram & Govinda !
Director :- Mani Ratnam
Music Director :- AR Rahman
Director :- Mani Ratnam
Music Director :- AR Rahman
‘Mani Ratnam directs his own version of the widely worshipped, great mythological epic, Ramayana.’ The statement alone was enough for alarmingly raising the curiosity levels both within the Industry and among the audience. But honestly, the promos as well as the music had put me in a dilemma. At one end, the movie looked like an abstract beautiful painting with African kind of soundtrack used in its background and at the other it clearly gave some strong signals of having an uninteresting and unfavorable execution.
Sadly, all my fears and doubts got confirmed right in the first hour of witnessing this modernized version of Ramayana, made by one of the greatest directors of Indian Film Industry, Mani Ratnam. In straight words, though RAAVAN undoubtedly remains one of the most magnificently shot movies of Indian Cinema, but at the same time it’s also unexpectedly the weakest movie till date from its reputed director.
Starting straight from the kidnapping sequence, RAAVAN simply announces that it’s more going to be a visual treat for some selected viewers and not a complete entertainer for the masses. The project stands nowhere, when compared to the illustrious list of offerings from Mani Ratnam in the past. The director had everything at his disposal to come up with a brilliant adaptation of the divine scripture. Yet what he delivers is just a well shot version of the famous story which even doesn’t justify every character of the script in the much desired way. In fact a few godly names having a prominent role in the story are just showcased as some un-important people in the script with only a few scenes.
The biggest and the most un-responsible portrayal on the screen is of “Hanuman”, who in reality is the second largest worshipped character of Ramayana in the whole world after Rama & Sita. Very regrettably Mani Ratnam uses the talented Govinda in this role and only makes him jumps over the trees in the jungle as a funny creature. That was indeed not expected from a director of his caliber. Moreover, Govinda is there only for a few scenes and then just vanishes off the screen before the climax just like that. Why the director and his writers conceived this most loved and humble character of the epic in such a way remains questionable?
The other characters which get some real rough treatment are of “Surpanakha” and “Lakshman”. What would be your response if I reveal that in this fictional depiction of the story, Beera’s (Raavan’s) sister (Srupnakha) gets picked up from his marriage venue by Nikhil Driwedi (playing Lakshman), who is the right hand of Dev (A Police Officer playing Ram) and then the girl is raped by him along with other policemen in the Police Station itself. What a brutal way to bring up the “Lakshman-Srupnakha” episode of the Ramayana resulting in “Raavan abduction of Sita”.
Due to this horrifying episode with his sister at the Police Station, Beera kidnaps the Police Offical’s wife Ragini (Aishwarya playing Sita) and keeps her in his hiding for 14 days. And then the Police starts searching for them in the jungle with the help of “Sanjeevni” (Hanuman) played by Govinda. That’s the story as a whole followed by this new age version by Mani Ratnam. Further the movie also incorporates the Agni-Pariksha instance from the Ramayana, when after returning from Beera’s den, Dev asks Ragini to give a Poly Graph test to prove her truth (which looks quite silly and unimpressive).
Coming to the main performances of Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Raavan, all the four fall apart and are not able to make an impact of any sort. Vikram playing Ram doesn’t get any good scenes and his character remains the most underwritten one from the prominent four. So there is no Ram kind of impression left on the viewers and Vikram performs just fine in his assigned role. Aishwarya as Sita looks stunning even in her without make up looks which is indeed remarkable from the camera point of view. She tries hard to come up as the best in the movie and also succeeds in her attempt due to the weak projection of her rival character Raavan. But towards the end, the director makes her look confusing when she unexplainably returns to Beera after facing rejection from her Husband. No doubt this particular sequence in the movie was a result of some bad writing. Nikhil Driwedi as Lakshman is energetic and should feel blessed to be chosen by the master himself for a role.
Abhishek as Ravaan is good but that’s it. He is not at all exceptional as projected by all that pre-release hype created by the producers. The deliberately made famous great laughter of his can be found nowhere in the movie. Neither there is any typical dialogue delivery style adapted by him, contrary to the expectations. As a result he is not able to leave any terrifying impact on the viewers. He is just a bad man with a good heart in the movie and that’s all. Perhaps that is the main reason why RAAVAN doesn’t match up to its projected levels due to the lackluster portrayal of its lead character.
Another big drawback of this costly venture is its climax . The movie ends up with a simple attack on Beera and he dies without even fighting. The whole sequence of his final killing looks very easy and unconvincing. Moreover the question remains that why now Dev easily accepts his wife after Beera’s death, when she even had returned to Beera after his suspecting act.
On the music front, truly speaking I liked the arrangement part of A. R. Rahman’s music more than his compositions. The melody was only there in few numbers and the best one remains “Kata Kata” track with amazing beats and singing. Main Ratnam seems to have a soft corner for “A Marriage Song” in his movies as this reminded me of a similar song in his “Roja”. Background score is brilliant, aptly matching the gorgeous locations on the screen.
Now about the only best part of the movie which is it’s “Stunning Cinematography”. The green and unexplored locations of a forest range within mountains, is something never seen before on the Indian Screen. The Visual appeal of the movie is simply outstanding and unique. In real terms if you are a student of cinema or of cinematography then the movie has indeed got some textbook material on the subject and it’s a must see for all those interested in its technicality.
But to be realistic, RAAVAN remains a masterpiece only for a tiny section of the viewers who essentially are part of the trade only. Its technical excellence is of least importance for the common man who is mainly looking for some great entertainment in return for his hard earned money. So, go for it only if you are interested in that part of the movie experience and don’t expect anything else this time from the brand name of Main Ratnam.
Rating : 1.5 / 5
Sadly, all my fears and doubts got confirmed right in the first hour of witnessing this modernized version of Ramayana, made by one of the greatest directors of Indian Film Industry, Mani Ratnam. In straight words, though RAAVAN undoubtedly remains one of the most magnificently shot movies of Indian Cinema, but at the same time it’s also unexpectedly the weakest movie till date from its reputed director.
Starting straight from the kidnapping sequence, RAAVAN simply announces that it’s more going to be a visual treat for some selected viewers and not a complete entertainer for the masses. The project stands nowhere, when compared to the illustrious list of offerings from Mani Ratnam in the past. The director had everything at his disposal to come up with a brilliant adaptation of the divine scripture. Yet what he delivers is just a well shot version of the famous story which even doesn’t justify every character of the script in the much desired way. In fact a few godly names having a prominent role in the story are just showcased as some un-important people in the script with only a few scenes.
The biggest and the most un-responsible portrayal on the screen is of “Hanuman”, who in reality is the second largest worshipped character of Ramayana in the whole world after Rama & Sita. Very regrettably Mani Ratnam uses the talented Govinda in this role and only makes him jumps over the trees in the jungle as a funny creature. That was indeed not expected from a director of his caliber. Moreover, Govinda is there only for a few scenes and then just vanishes off the screen before the climax just like that. Why the director and his writers conceived this most loved and humble character of the epic in such a way remains questionable?
The other characters which get some real rough treatment are of “Surpanakha” and “Lakshman”. What would be your response if I reveal that in this fictional depiction of the story, Beera’s (Raavan’s) sister (Srupnakha) gets picked up from his marriage venue by Nikhil Driwedi (playing Lakshman), who is the right hand of Dev (A Police Officer playing Ram) and then the girl is raped by him along with other policemen in the Police Station itself. What a brutal way to bring up the “Lakshman-Srupnakha” episode of the Ramayana resulting in “Raavan abduction of Sita”.
Due to this horrifying episode with his sister at the Police Station, Beera kidnaps the Police Offical’s wife Ragini (Aishwarya playing Sita) and keeps her in his hiding for 14 days. And then the Police starts searching for them in the jungle with the help of “Sanjeevni” (Hanuman) played by Govinda. That’s the story as a whole followed by this new age version by Mani Ratnam. Further the movie also incorporates the Agni-Pariksha instance from the Ramayana, when after returning from Beera’s den, Dev asks Ragini to give a Poly Graph test to prove her truth (which looks quite silly and unimpressive).
Coming to the main performances of Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Raavan, all the four fall apart and are not able to make an impact of any sort. Vikram playing Ram doesn’t get any good scenes and his character remains the most underwritten one from the prominent four. So there is no Ram kind of impression left on the viewers and Vikram performs just fine in his assigned role. Aishwarya as Sita looks stunning even in her without make up looks which is indeed remarkable from the camera point of view. She tries hard to come up as the best in the movie and also succeeds in her attempt due to the weak projection of her rival character Raavan. But towards the end, the director makes her look confusing when she unexplainably returns to Beera after facing rejection from her Husband. No doubt this particular sequence in the movie was a result of some bad writing. Nikhil Driwedi as Lakshman is energetic and should feel blessed to be chosen by the master himself for a role.
Abhishek as Ravaan is good but that’s it. He is not at all exceptional as projected by all that pre-release hype created by the producers. The deliberately made famous great laughter of his can be found nowhere in the movie. Neither there is any typical dialogue delivery style adapted by him, contrary to the expectations. As a result he is not able to leave any terrifying impact on the viewers. He is just a bad man with a good heart in the movie and that’s all. Perhaps that is the main reason why RAAVAN doesn’t match up to its projected levels due to the lackluster portrayal of its lead character.
Another big drawback of this costly venture is its climax . The movie ends up with a simple attack on Beera and he dies without even fighting. The whole sequence of his final killing looks very easy and unconvincing. Moreover the question remains that why now Dev easily accepts his wife after Beera’s death, when she even had returned to Beera after his suspecting act.
On the music front, truly speaking I liked the arrangement part of A. R. Rahman’s music more than his compositions. The melody was only there in few numbers and the best one remains “Kata Kata” track with amazing beats and singing. Main Ratnam seems to have a soft corner for “A Marriage Song” in his movies as this reminded me of a similar song in his “Roja”. Background score is brilliant, aptly matching the gorgeous locations on the screen.
Now about the only best part of the movie which is it’s “Stunning Cinematography”. The green and unexplored locations of a forest range within mountains, is something never seen before on the Indian Screen. The Visual appeal of the movie is simply outstanding and unique. In real terms if you are a student of cinema or of cinematography then the movie has indeed got some textbook material on the subject and it’s a must see for all those interested in its technicality.
But to be realistic, RAAVAN remains a masterpiece only for a tiny section of the viewers who essentially are part of the trade only. Its technical excellence is of least importance for the common man who is mainly looking for some great entertainment in return for his hard earned money. So, go for it only if you are interested in that part of the movie experience and don’t expect anything else this time from the brand name of Main Ratnam.
Rating : 1.5 / 5
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