Review of Raavanan (2010) by Sandip R — 20 Jun 2010

Mani Rathnam is a pretty big name in Indian movie circles, and are equally loved by movie goers and critics. He usually takes the formulaic 'commercial cinema' and turns it on its head giving us very well made movies, that are not a chore to sit through. Coming from such a man, this overly hyped retelling of a great Indian epic falls flat.

The movie is supposed to be loosely based on one chapter of the epic Ramayana. According to the epic, Raavan, a demon king abducts Sita, Ram's wife to avenge the humiliation of his sister at the hands of Ram's brother. Ram, with the aid of Hanuman, an ape god, rescues her from the demon. In legend, Ram asks his wife to take a test of purity to prove that she hasnt slept with or been raped by the demon in the 40 odds days that she is held captive. This epic is supposed to play off that legend and portray Raavan as a misunderstood character who is chivalrous towards his captive although essentially evil in the eyes of the law. He counters evil with evil, and is essence is a robin hood of the masses.

The story falls flat and is more of a blow by blow copy of the original with only the characters getting a very minimal reboot in attitude. The story telling is confused, starting with a voice over, skipping into sloppy 20 second flashbacks to give us the characters back story, and then into a rolling epic format with close ups, slo-mo, songs and fights.

The acting is sub par, with the abductor hamming it up and the abducted wife getting shrill and annoying in the first thirty seconds of their introduction. I would have shot here right there. The cop/god, is retributive and violent with a one track mind, has nothing much to do other than push his men into certain death and look cool in shades and slo-mo while doing so. The songs are badly choreographed, but good to listen to and the location and the camera work are absolutely breathtaking.

In short, it is a extremely well shot movie that is one of the worst adaptation/retelling in the history of the Ramayana, which is anywhere between 3000-1000 years old depending on whom you believe.