To begin with, let me not review this film.
I know lots of critics, bloggers alike have ripped it apart and maybe told good things alike.
I have heard more negatives about this film than the positives.
“No, don’t watch it!”
“Mani Ratnam got it completely wrong this time”
“What a waste of a movie”
“I can’t imagine a sensible director making such a lousy film”
“Raavanan? A mistake I did watching it!”
“God my 2 KD went down the drain”
And the whining continued… To the extent that I wowed not to watch this flop of movie ever.
But that freak in me told myself to give it a try and so I did.
I guess even after a year’s release of this movie, I would have managed to write this feature since I am hear to show a deaf ear to all those guys who are still out there ripping apart in shreds a gem of this movie into various bits and shreds.
Poor Mani Ratnam!
I guess talent, name, fame comes with a price. Even when he announced this feature… the critique, blogging continued about this venture and and rest as we all know is history. Movie got released and none I know of till date, liked this movie.
This is where I’d like to come in.
I loved this movie. Quite simply. I mean the Tamil version… Raavanan. And I truly consider this work of his art as one of his best works.
From the starting till the finish… I was quite hooked on to the story. I mean yeah, there are loop holes, some glitches here and there… come on…, let’s give this guy his due. Raavanan is not a bad film at all!
The characterizations of Vikram and Aishwarya are spot on giving some amazing and credible performances. The others do matter and don’t mostly. They matter less and mostly don’t matter and hence I’d not really get into that. That’s where I felt Mani Sir could have given little more thought. But then that’s still okay since most of the films these days do not follow the most common sense and why should we just rip Mani Sir for that sake?
The film has a certain coldness to it which I could feel from the beginning to the end. That’s Raavanan’s character and that kind of encapsulates the entire frames of the movie all the time. The dense jungles, the greenery, the wilderness, the rawness are very well captured in the film. There are few other characters who come and go and in my opinion did well for whatever was written from them. Prabhu, Vaiyapuri (As the Eunuch), Priya Mani lent enough support to carry the story forward. The roles of Prithviraj as Ram and Karthik as Hanuman could have been well written and this is where the movie kind of falters (Though not majorly… but could have been well thought of!)
But I am glad for not having seen the film in Hindi.
I am sure it would not be even ten percent worth for what it was in Tamil. And I just cannot see Abhishek Bachchan in the role of Raavan. It reminds me of a school kid striking a pose in a fancy dress competition.
Music of AR Rahman as usual grows on you.
After listening to them umpteen number of times and then when you watch the film you tend to like the songs in the film. Background score too plays an integral part of the film and has been woven very will into the movie.
Camera work by Santosh Sivan/ V. Manikandan deserves a special mention. This movie wouldn’t have been even half of what it is with out its cinematography something which Mani Ratnams films are good at.
Sequences such as Aishwarya’s intro scene on a boat is just too good, The shot where the camera is held under water and both the boats (Aishwarya and Vikram’s) approach each other, Aishwarya jumping off from the cliff, The rotating shot of Vikram on a lake with the kids… requires special attention.
Dialogues are raw and intense at times. Very well written by Suhasini mani Ratnam.
I missed having watched this film on a big screen.
Dear reader, I truly advise you to watch this film on a big screen or maybe a very good copy that you can get hold of.
If you have already seen it I can’t help much in convincing you otherwise but I am thoroughly impressed with the film.
What’s wrong Mani Sir?
How come you make films for people who like Anniyan, Sivaji, Pokkiri, Villu etc?
My rating
***1/2 out of 5
Director: Mani Rathnam
Camera: Santosh Sivan/ V Manikandan
Starring: Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Prithviraj, Prabhu, Karthik, Priya Mani
Music: AR Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuthu
Dialogues: Suhasini Mani Rathnam
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