Review of Raavanan (2010) by Rahul R — 21 Jun 2010

Ignore the haters, the know not whereof they speak. Not that this is a perfect movie, but its ambition is certainly to be applauded. A disclaimer first: familiarity with the Ramayan is almost a prerequisite, a potential drawback. Also, I saw the Tamil version, which is supposedly much better than the Hindi version. Personally, I have much more faith in Vikram than Abishekh Bachchan.

For all its strengths, the movie certainly starts on shaky ground, "shaky" being the operative word. Mr. Ratnam, 360 degree tracking shots, random shaking, and jarring editing do not make your movie more exciting, just hard to watch. What the hell where you thinking?

Once the movie settles down, though, it is simply breathtaking. Key in this regard is Vikram's performance as Veera, very dramatic but never over-the-top. The story also deviates from the original in a fascinating direction, into a veiled critique of the role our preconceived cultural notions of mythological heroes and villains play in judging and simplifying peoples' actions. The critique itself is problematic and one-sided, but the fact that it's even there is remarkable in itself.

But at the end of the day, what sells the movie is cinematography. Man, once Veera and Ragini are deep in the jungle, the brilliant shots keep coming. I want to go to that jungle! If it weren't for the weakness of the Dev/Ram character and some dodgy editing choices, we would have been looking at an unqualified masterpiece. You know, if I had been in charge, etc. etc.