Watched the much criticized Raavanan today on the big screen and wanted to pen my thoughts.
Mani Ratnam’s adaptation of Ramayan was pretty much on wafer thin ice. It is hard to believe that Mani did not concentrate more on the story and screenplay aspects of the movie. The first hour of the movie was a bit of a drag.
The movie stands out with the technical expertise, cinematography & art direction. The life-like sets and the plush green locales combined with Santosh Sivan’s magical camera work moves you right into the forests of Chalakudy and Ooty where the movie was shot.
Vikram has done total justice to the role of Veera. His portrayal of the mixed emotions was truly outstanding. Needless to say, Aishwarya Rai looks stunning throughout the movie and has rendered her role with class. Prithviraj, Karthik, Prabhu and Priyamani fit in well in their respective roles.
Mani uses water as a motif throughout the film. Shooting the movie in the dense forest with continuous rains makes one realize the ordeals the cast and crew would have gone through. The final fight sequence on the bridge is breathtaking.
Songs are definitely not a strong point in Raavanan. My personal favorite is ‘Usure Poguthey’.
Overall, I enjoyed watching Raavanan and am glad that I chose to watch the Tamil version. I have always been partial towards Mani Ratnam movies and will continue to be. Raavanan is definitely not one of his classics but the movie certainly has its highlights.
I choose not to watch the Hindi version now. Will wait for the DVD to come out and then compare Abhishek’s performance to Vikram’s. In my mind the verdict is already out….. and Vikram wins, without doubt ;)
If you are a die-hard Mani fan…. Don’t miss Raavanan.
