Cast: Abhishek Bachchan,Aishwarya Rai,Vikram,Govinda
Language: Hindi
Running Time: 2 hour 19 minutes
Director: Mani Ratnam
Music Director: A. R. Rahman
Censor Certificate: U
Genre: Drama,Action
Plot:The film is a modern-day version and a loose adaptation of the Indian epic Ramayana, in which Sita, the wife of Lord Rama, was abducted by the demon king of Lanka, Ravana.
Abhishek Bachchan as Beera (Raavana),
Aishwarya Rai as Ragini Sharma (Sita),Vikram as Dev Pratap Sharma (Lord Rama),Govinda as Sanjeevani Kumar(Hanuman) ,Ravi Kishan as Siddharth(Indrajit),
Nikhil Dwivedi as laxman prasad(Rama's brother laxman),
Ashish Vidyarthi as Dev’s Father (Dashratha) (removed in final version)Bipasha Basu in guest appearance (Wife of Raavan) (removed in the final version)
Dev falls in love with Ragini who is a spunky classical . They get married and he takes up his new post in Lal Maati, a small town in northern India. In this town, the word of law is not the police but Beera. Dev supervises to rip open Beera’s word in one stroke, and set in motion a chain of events which will claim lives, change fortunes. At that time, Beera injured but he engaged hits back starting a battle that draws Dev, Beera and Ragini into the jungle, which is dense, confusing, and scary. In this journey, they must face up to their own truth as a journey which will test their beliefs, convictions and emotions. The forest becomes the battleground between good and evil, between Dev and Beera, between Ram and Raavan.
My Review:The parallel between Ramayan & the story of today is quite convincing.None of the characters seem useless.Raavan’s brothers,Hanuman,Raam,Sita all have their contemporaries in this modern day Ramayan.One good thing about Mani Ratnam movies is the quality of cinema.No matter what I’ve never found any compromise in music,costumes,locations,actors,cinematography,direction.Even in this you see the same dedication.The whole movie is in the rain forest with great locations shot with exceptional skills of Santosh Sivan’s lens.Every frame is like a portrait.This combined with background score and music by A.R.Rehman throughout the movie makes it an experience in itself.Make sure you watch it in good quality theatre(PVR,FAME).
Inspite of all this Raavan doesn’t entertain you.That’s where the problem is.The dialogues most of the times are short & not in proper hindi.At times you struggle to understand a typical northindian accent.The biggest confusion of the movie was its geography.The characters looked like from north where as the set up & rainforests looked typical of south.Inspite of good quality of music it did not fit well.Again how can there be a Punjabi song in the typical north tribal wedding?one of the song is rajasthani.Complete misfit. “Behne De” & “Beera Beera” are good.
Aishwarya is same as always, nothing new.Abhishek has tried his best to look evil.But not convincing enough.Infact sometimes his supposedly evilish gestures make you laugh.Rest of the cast has done a good job.The climax may not go well with the Indian audience.Imagine Sita going back to Raavan because Ram had a doubt & wanted her to go through agnipariksha(polygraph test in here).Thats what happens here.Anyways, even though Mani Ratnam did not entertain me this time my respect for him is still intact.He’s a good story teller with a great vision.
My Ratings:2.5/5,Watch it for cinematography on big screen
