Repudiate as you may Mr. Mani Ratnam, but Raavan is definitely inspired from the Asokavanam episode in Ramayanam. To say that it isn’t would be like saying that the movie’s main protagonists are Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan… OF Course, they aren’t… The central characters are the sharp cliffs, sinuous waterfalls and the succulent flora!!
Raavan is a modern day interpretation of the episode where in Raavan kidnaps Sita, wife of Shri Ram and keeps her in Asokavanam. Later Shri Ram ventures to save his wife and bring her back.
Broken down in spirits as his happiness is completely lost through his close relation, its turn for Beera to retaliate. It is just as you expected as Beera kidnaps Raghini only to find the justice in his own way. Therein lies the problem, as Indians, most of us are completely aware of the Sita Haran and have a preset, specific image of all the characters. For us to change that, or at least get thinking, there should be good enough reasoning. The REASON for us to fall in love with the characters, empathize with their predicaments, and identify with their emotions and all this is just NOT there… It’s MISSING!
Promoted as a *Different* sort of a Movie… one that is highly anticipated…. And said to be the most awaited movie of the year, Raavan is all set to Disappoint. As least that’s what it did to me!! Disappoint!
I am a HUGE FAN of AISHWARYA RAI!!! Yes I am, I cannot even listen to anyone saying anything in the negative light about her, and I have always supported her even when she was criticized for the dressing at the Cannes, or her so called fakeness etc. I did…But this time, I think I am the One who needs to be supported!! This is DEFINITELY one film both the Bachchans can keep for forever framed and plastered on their mantel and may as well be proud of. As I said before, even though I completely adore Mrs. Bachchan, I was feeling slightly nauseous after watching every single frame of Raavan tenderly focusing and capturing her in all her ‘make-up-less’ magnificence. She is Gorgeous, angelic and so pure, but that’s it… her acting in the movie was flawed, I would like to believe its Mani Ratnam who asked her to behave as though she was possessed, the hyper ventilation, the over dramatized expression and not to mention the plunging neckline… Why o Why would someone in the Jungle with a supposedly Menacing, intimidating and psycho goon wear a low cut churidar and strut her stuff??? Isn’t it going to garner unnecessary attention, especially considering the fact that she is already MARRIED!!!
To NOT speak about the Music of the film would be extremely unforgivable… yes the music is phenomenal and A.R. Rahman’s songs are inspiring enough but most of the time, we long for the actors to mouth some powerful dialogues instead of staring at each other and letting the music do their job… and watching the highly synchronized and choreographed song and dance sequence by the bunch of fugitives definitely make you feel cheated as u expect something artful from Mr. Ratnam!! Nevertheless the song in question *Thok de Gili* is an attempt to take on the socio politics in India and accused Delhi ( as in the Central Government) of not giving these underprivileged, tribals and neglected people a fair share… Lyrics are stirring but the effect is LOST thanks to the dance routine.
Can someone please explain to me why our Robin Hood-like hero Beera – Abhishek Bachchan – has a liberal amount grease and white cement-like paint applied on his FACE?? Why?? If the idea was to get camouflaged, well it didn’t WORK! We still managed to see him… Urgh!!
The story starts off with a lot of prospect – local rebel chief Beera kidnaps Ragini, the wife of Inspector Dev to avenge the death of his sister. Whether Ragini is Kidnapped or she walks into the kidnappers mouth is something debatable. I mean what the hell was she thinking travelling on a raft with a boat man in the middle of a uninhabited river?? From then on begins the longest 2 and half hours of my life… or was it 14 days?? Well, It almost did feel like 14 days, just as Ragini was kept hostage…. Yes there are highly stylized chains of events stuffed with a large number of slow-motion procedures and monotonous scenes - How MANY times does Mr. Ratnam need to show Mrs. Bachchan jumping of the bloody cliff??? And the fall, it was the most unrealistic fall ever… How can one fall so gracefully and elegantly?
It is SAD that Junior Bachchan lacks the expressive quality that was required to shoulder the character of Raavan… he lacked the expressive eyes, gait, voice modulation and the whole effort was completely in vain, Not even once did He as Beera succeed in frighten Ragini let alone us… At the this juncture I would also like to note, that I am quite certain that the Tamil version would be much better owing to the fact Vikram is a far superior actor and much more talented than our very own AB junior. In the whole Movie, It’s Vikram who stands out the clutter and gives in a subtle, restrained and dignified performance. There are far too many cracks in the story-line including the lack of any description of Beera’s past history, the reason why he is supposed to have 10 HEADS or something to that effect and the Dev-Ragini angle is so short and underdeveloped for us to truly feel sorry for the two separated lovers. The fact that we have a Hero who has the time and is in such a relaxed mind frame that he actually shaving his slightly grown facial hair when his wife has been kidnapped by a relentless goon! WAH!
I can go on and on about the flaws in the script, but I rather not squander any more time on this latest Venture of AB, Ash and Mani team… it’s just not required! Cinematographers Santosh Sivan’s cameras affectionately display the wilderness and accentuate to a point wherein you seen nothing but the vegetation. Raavan would definitely have worked well had it been Called the Forests of Kerala – A Revelation (or something on those lines), I assure you I would have loved it!!
