DVD Raavan

Mani Ratnam is the undisputed heir to the legacy laid by the great Indian auteurs like Guru Dutt, Satyajit Ray, Raj Kapoor and Shayam Benegal. If movies like Roja, Bombay, Yuva were the cornerstones of his career then Raavan would definitely be the crowning jewel. Despite being a rendition of the Ramayana, Raavan is avant garde on countless fronts. The cinematography of the movie is both detailed and picturesque, and enormously adds to its poignant beauty. Mani dauntlessly transforms the eternal saga of the Ramayana into a much profound tale which transcends the trite theme of virtue versus vice; a gigantic task which a lesser director could have easily botched. The tone of the movie is set right from the first scene and gets enhanced with subsequent scenes. The pristineness of the movie gives it an uncanny charm that makes the viewing experience, titillating and nigh ineffable. The picaresque theme of the movie may appear to be commonplace, but movie's exotic backdrop and meticulous execution make it augustly unique.

The first half of the movie is deliberately paced which gives it a poetic effect that is seldom associated with contemporary Indian movies. Rehman's plaintive score lulls the viewer into a state of trance which sustains beyond the length of the movie.

Abhishek Bachchan outdoes himself as an actor in the portrayal of glacial yet vulnerable, Beera, a part which required subtlety and brusqueness in equal parts. Mani Ratnam is known to get the best out of his actors, and even he would be proud of Bachchan's performance in Raavan. Incidentally, it was Mani Ratnam who helped Bachchan get rid of the ham status by trusting him with parts in Yuva and Guru. Aishwarya Rai gives a thorough performance doing full justice to her talent and pulchritude. During the course of the movie, one incredibly gets to see her in all the nine rasas (essential aspects or energies that define a set of emotions and moods). Govinda is invidiously under used in the movie and hence fails to leave an impact. The rest of the cast has given commendable performances with a special mention of Bhojpuri actor, Ravi Kishan.

Barring a few redundant scenes, Raavan is consummate in every sense of the word, and has enough to fascinate the masses, awe the critics, and teach the students of cinema. In fact, it will undoubtedly serve as a benchmark for the movies in years to come.

PS: Raavan is a must watch for those who love Hindi cinema and for those who want to acquaint themselves with it. 9/10

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So what do you do when you've got on your hands, one of those most interesting and misunderstood characters of all time? A context that has such layered underlying themes – Political, psychological and social? Possibly the chance to turn the reality that every Ramanand Sagar extravaganza has drilled into us, on its head? MR does dare venture this territory. Sadly, it remains Terra incognito even as the end credits roll. Ironically, the jaw dropping beautiful locales and cinematography do the movie in. They set the stage for something spectacular, operatic and epic- something the movie doesn't achieve in its entire running time of 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Most of the fault lies with the flimsy writing and one dimensional characterization.

The name of the movie for Cryin' out loud- Is Ravaan. The learned and spiritual uber villain of the epic. This Beera is reduced to a boor that mumbles incoherencies and borrows expressions from the Exorcist (and daddy dearest in RGV ki Aag) and evidently suffers from a bad case of head lice. Forget Ramayana, I am thinking he tottered out of the pages of twinkle comics. He speaks Hindi in a rustic dialect which miraculously disappears in the songs. The biggest flaw lies in the fact that the 'good' in Beera is achieved by 'demonising' Ram (ACP Dev). On his own, he has no stand to take.

Abhishek Bacchan , well, there is really NO erudite way of saying this. He sucks! Twitchy head movements and deranged smiles et al. He possibly might be the product of one of his mountaineering attempts gone wrong and him landing on his head.

Aishwarya screeches so much in the first half that you want Beera to set her free for his own good. But once she puts a lid on the ham, she emerges as one of the stronger performers. Eclipsing Abhishek and Vikram in every frame, she effortlessly looks ethereal – wide eyed and drenched locks set against the primal and mystic forest. A more ballsy ending would have done 'Sita' more justice. For once she isn't the Domex drenched doormat most Indian women are expected to be on celluloid. She is, in spite of herself attracted to the Beera, questions the 'Mariyaada Purushottam' and makes her way back to Beera in the climatic sequences. I'd have readily forgiven most follies of the movie had She stayed with Beera. However, on some level I don't blame the makers. This is after all the land where anything can be turned saffron and demolished for taking a different stand.

And yes, there is a Ram thrown in for good measure. Why waste the national award winner Vikram in this role? His exists on the canvas only to be blackened enough to make Beera look like the victim of a witch hunt. Again, Beera in himself is never layered enough – merely canonized indirectly. Ravi Kishan as Beera's brother turns in a good performance. Govinda has man boobs. Enough said. AR Rehman's score exists. But that's about it. I don't know if it was inherently lackadaisical, irrelevant or if I was too jaded to react to it. When will we ever learn to use soundtrack to propel the story forward?

And now for the ugly.

A terrible background score. A forest should sound as good as it looks – Here, absolutely NO use of the natural sounds to heighten the atmosphere. Instead we have jarring George of the Jungle beats. Unless they wanted to make a point about the extinction of species, not one non-human organism is spotted.

One of the cheesiest dialogue I have ever come across on the screen.An embarrassment when pitched against the slick,witty and tight writing of MR's preceding works, Guru and Yuva.

Baffling logical inconsistencies – Aishwarya is led into the big, bad forest blindfolded. But in the climatic sequences she effortlessly makes her way back to Beera. With no clue that over 50 men are minutes behind on her trail. A special mention for how spotless her white clothing remains throughout this entire journey.

The only saving grace is Santosh Sivan's cinematography. Which makes this the cinematic equivalent of a dumb blonde. My apologies if my review reads too tepid. Usually I am unforgiving and caustic to the movies I hate. This one has left me too jaded to even abuse it properly.