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 Since the time of the announcement of
Mani Ratnam’s Raavan, curiosity about how India’s most accomplished
filmmaker manages to do a modern day adaptation of the mythological
epic, Ramayan, has known no bounds. Thankfully, Mani succeeds in his own
inimitable way. His team’s painstaking hard work shows in every frame
of the film and his actors help him raise the film’s bar.
The film opens with policemen killed at various places around Lal
Maati, a small town in Northern India. This is followed by abduction of
the local police chief Dev’s (Vikram) wife Raagini (Aishwarya Rai). The
dreaded low cast tribal lord Beera (Abhishek) is behind the kidnapping.
Dev (Vikram) immediately gets hot on the trail of Beera with trusted
lieutenant Hemant (Nikhil Dwivedi) and seeks the help of the jovial
forest guard SanJeevani (Govinda). Beera knows the dense jungle like the
back of his hand and is helped by the tribals, managing to stay just
one step ahead of Dev and his team. But as the cat and mouse chase
proceeds between Beera and Dev, the initial hate of Raagini for Beera
subsides. As Dev inches closer, the near maniacal Beera shows he has a
heart too and Raagini almost loses hers to him. What follows after Beera
and Dev come face to face forms the rest of the film.
Taking on a mega epic like Ramayan and turning it on its head giving
his own personal interpretation, Mani Ratnam dares to depart from the
religious text and succeeds in showcasing how Ram can be a Raavan and
how a Raavan can also be a Ram. Aided by the best technical crew of
Indian cinema, Mani has made his multilayered film, a technical marvel
to watch with awe. The first half moves on rapidly mostly focusing on
Dev’s chase of Beera, but however it gets boring beyond a point since
the story hardly moves ahead. Mani also fails to establish the exact
setting of the outlaws. Are they Naxals or a modern day Robin hood gang?
But it is the beginning of the second half where Mani begins to pack
his solid punches and achieves the peak with an unusual climax. Beera’s
background (the reason for Raagini’s abduction), Dev’s impatience to
grab Beera, Raagini’s gradual change of perception about Beera and
eventually the final face off between Dev and Beera have all been
terrifically captured.
Abhishek is nothing short of brilliant, portraying Beera. If you
thought Abhishek delivered his best under Mani in Yuva and Guru, watch
Raavan for his evolvement into an actor of true caliber. Aishwarya Rai
delivers a top notch act. Makeup less and forever battered and bruised,
Aishwarya’s eyes convey a lot more than the shrieking her character has
to resort to most of the time. Vikram unfortunately is saddled with a
one dimensional character for most part of the film until the climactic
punch. He looks fearless and arouses enough curiosity as an actor to
watch him play Beera in the Tamil version of the film. Govinda as
Sanjeevani brings on the much required comic relief in the tense
proceedings and succeeds. Ravi Kissen grabs the opportunity to impress
with both his hands and does well. Priyamani playing Beera’s sister, in
her brief role manages to bring out the pathos of her unfortunate
character.
Mani takes you to virgin locations within India never exposed before
on screen. Be it the thick dense forests in Kerala or the same state’s
dangerous Athirappally Waterfalls or the exotic Orcha in Madhya Pradesh
and Malshej Ghat valley in Maharashtra, Santosh Sivan and Manikandan’s
camera captures it all with super finesse. The action finale on the
hanging bridge, a never seen before feat in Indian cinema makes your
heart skip a beat.
Oscar winner A.R. Rahman’s music coupled with Gulzar’s lyrics is
mesmerizing but Mani hardly gives any time for any song to register any
impact, as if in a quick hurry.
The subtle statement Mani incorporates against the system on behalf
of the low caste have-nots is laudable but could have been a little more
elaborate. Nevertheless, as Mani Ratnam’s metaphoric interpretation of
the grand epic, Raavan definitely deserves a visit to your nearest
cinema hall for its plusses certainly over ride its minuses.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5*
Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Govinda, Ravi
Kissen and introducing Vikram
Director: Mani Ratnam
Abhijit Mhamunkar /Sampurn Wire
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