Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Review: Raavan (2010)


The much awaited movie of the year, Raavan finally hit the screens on 18th June. When bollywood slowly veered into releasing senseful movies, Does Raavan continue the legacy? Has Mani Ratnam proved himself once again? Read on to find out...

Raavan, starring celebrity couple Ash-Abhi and Tamil hero Vikram, is a typical adaptation of the Ramayana but it doesn't quite live up to the epic's magic. Mani Ratnam is a fine director, he totally loses it right from the start.

Anyways, here is the story, Dev (Vikram) is supposed to be a police officer who, along with his wife Ragini (Ash) moves into a village (Don't quite remember the name) where Beera (Abhishek) is a big shot. Then its Blah! Blah! Blah! - Beera kidnaps Ragini - Blah! Blah! Blah! - Dev hunts for them - Blah! Blah! Blah! - emotional flashbacks - Blah! Blah! Blah! - Killings, Violence, Explosions - Blah! Blah! Blah! - Ram captures Raavan! And that is it..

So complex a story right? Even super computers wouldn't be able to decipher it.
The movie was a fultoo waste of time, energy and money (if you are watching it in the theatres).

Mani Ratnam , known for his brilliant flicks like Roja, Thalapathi and Guru, miserable fails to create an impression. Even if one let goes the story, detailing and logic part, the trademark style of Mani Ratnam is missing. He has let it loose totally and it goes all wrong. Totally wrong. In fact its a blunder!

While its Ash who keeps screaming in the first half, its her real life spouse who keeps screaming in the second half. Overall its cacophonous to hear. Its ironic when the movie ends with Ash whispering.....Beera!

The Acting of any particular character isn't special and doesn't deserve a mention. Abhishek has done a pretty decent job portraying Beera but nothing so commendable. Neither does the potential Vikram. His is similar to the 'Saami' character. Ash screams, weeps, screams and she screams all the way.

Music and Cinematography were the only aspects laudable in this flick. Even they faltered at places. The camera kept moving unwantedly but it did picture the exotic places ecstatically.


Few unanswered questions:

1) If Ragini was ready to sacrifice her life, why had she to follow Abhishek all the way. (They are a married couple. But Still! )
2) Dev, inspite of spending 14 days in the jungle, ends up wearing clean dresses. How? (He has a portable washing machine or what? )
3) How does Dev end up climbing up from the wrong side of the cliff after his mysterious fall in the other side.
4) the locations are confusing. Nowhere is the police station shown and nowhere does the village has any relation with the forests and hills.
5) How does Ragini know how to reach Beera even when she's blindfolded all the way when she is kidnapped?


Positives: Music and Cinematography.

Negatives: Everything else!



Rating: 1/5

Raavan - A total misfire!

3 comments:

Siddharth said...

Well... well... well... i havent seen the movie, but you seem outright pissed after watching the movie... very strong review though... was the tamil version any better, with Vikram taking Ravana's place instead of Abhishek?

Charan said...

When are the critics ever gonna stop comparing Raavan with Ramayan and just watch it as a Mani Ratnam's film?..I haven't seen the movie but iam going to..This is because of one lone review..here's the link http://itwofs.com/milliblog/2010/06/20/raavan-movie-review-hindi-maniratnam/

Varun said...

I'm not saying raavan failed because of its so-called adaptation of ramayan...
I'm saying the protagonists din't deliver properly and neither did the crew members...
It was pathetic to see it all together on screen...Mani was totally missing..
There was nothing wrong with his adaptation..there were his additions here and there...but why ...has Mani to choose a story so synonymous with Ramayan that the whole nation is in an ambiguous state...thats is my question..!