Movie Review : Raavan

Rating : Poor (2/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2010
Running time : 2 hours 20 minutes
Director : Mani Ratnam
Cast : Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ravi Kisshen, Govinda, Vikram, Tejaswini Kolhapure
Kid rating : PG-13


RAAVAN (Review) : FAILS TO THRILL !

We seem to be awash in mythology-based films. Recently there was Rajneeti, a modern-day Mahabharat, and now we have Raavan, based on the Ramayana. Mani Ratnam’s interpretation is situated in the forest too, where notorious brigand/self-styled Robinhood Beera (Abhishek Bachchan) kidnaps the local police chief’s wife Ragini Sharma (Aishwarya). The motive apparently is revenge for the molestation of Beera’s sister at the hands of the law (the Surpanakha angle).

As the police chief Dev Pratap Sharma (Southern superstar Vikram) gets in hot pursuit, Beera moves into the jungles with Ragini and his cohorts (Ravi Kissen being one of them). Sharma gets help from forest guard Sanjivani (Govinda), (a mix of Sugriva and Hanuman), in navigating the jungles, but every time they come close, Beera has already slipped ahead. Meanwhile feisty Ragini, in close contact with her kidnapper, begins to see the motivations that drive him, and he in turn is attracted to her radiant beauty and fiery spirit. Will Sharma ever manage to find Ragini ? And if he does will Ragini have to choose between the two ?

Ratnam’s Raavan is a sumptuous feast for the senses. Ratnam frames his shots artistically, brings home the atmosphere in lush, rain-drenched forests, and channels the primeval in Beera’s character. The film has a lot of “mood” and plays out like a heavy, poetic, ambiance-laden musical opera, rather than a commercial Hindi film. Ratnam seems to have made the film about good and evil incarnate instead of actual people because he uses characters that seem to have found their primordial roots; they scream, shout and prance around as if possessed.

The first half of the film bears the burden of laying out the playing field, establishing the rhythm which will move this film forward. Consequentially it suffers in pace and storytelling, being devoted to Beera moving through the jungles and Sharma following along – something which got pretty boring after a while. Abhishek plays Beera as a rather eccentric, almost of-his-rocker villain. Given to guttural growls, random head-shaking and monkey-like chittering Beera appears almost bestial at times. And while that might be Ratnam’s interpretation of Raavan, it didn’t seem to click with the rest of Beera’s persona.

Aishwarya, never much of an actress to begin with, has one thing is her favor – she is a luminous beauty, something that brings much to this role. Unfortunately Ratnam has her shouting and shrieking her way through the film, leaving very little character to come through, except maybe at the end of the film. Vikram, as the Superintendent of Police came across as a regular South-Indian hero (and not at all as a “Sharma” of the Hindi belt, which was what he was supposed to be), slightly stocky, jean-clad with tucked-in tee, Raybans perched on his nose, and a smoking cigarette at his lips. He appeared cold and removed, not exuding any of the warmth required as a powerful yet benign savior. Me thinks Ratnam might have been better served casting him as Beera.

Now Abhishek, for all his chittering and lazy head-rolls, never quite manages to plumb the depths of this role. It is a hard task because Ratnam imbues his characters with ambiguities – they are not just black or white – well beyond Bachchan’s limited skill set. (He might have done well as the SP though.) Ravi Kissen was good as Beera’s right hand man, and Govinda just about adequate as Sanjeevani.

I have many problems with this film, something I never thought I’d say about a Mani Ratnam product. So lost is he in his “art” work, because that is what it is – a pastiche of delicately framed shots and overwrought emotion, that he ignores the basic demand of cinema – to keep the viewer engaged and sympathetic. Ratnam’s Raavan is filled with angst-ridden characters who are hard to identify with, much less be sympathetic to. (And when I mean identify with I don’t mean it as identifying with the persona, but with their redeeming qualities.) The film slow paced as it was seemed overly long. A 50% reduction is length would have done wonders, because it could have stopped the first half from dragging and brought the narration quickly to the relatively better second.

Post-watch I have to say that Mani Ratnam definitely had a vision, probably one of an artistic film with earthy fervor strong enough to sway the masses. However it didn’t quite turn out like that. With an almost insufferable first half, a very average second, and poor music to boot, this film is way below Ratnam’s usual caliber of film-making. I’d advise a DVD watch, if at all.

Kidwise : This film has references to rape/molestation, some nudity, and a lot of violence.