Raavan vs Raavanan !

"A STUPENDOUS PIECE OF EYE CANDY"

From the moment I entered the cinema hall on June 18th for the early noon show of the Tamil version entitled 'Raavanan', and until I finished watching the evening show of the Hindi version, 'Raavan', what I witnessed was a series of pleasant surprises and some sour disappointments. Believe it or not, the Hindi version scores over the Tamil!

Mani Ratnam was the only director in India, who handled melodrama in the most natural way; and that was evident in his films like Nayagan, Roja, Bombay, Alayipayuthe, and even the recent Guru. But after watching Raavan/Raavanan, I' am forced to rub off that very statement from my head, because right from the start, whatever happened on screen seemed to be contrived and artificial at most parts, with the very character of Raavan not even being properly established!

Well, the basic premise, inspired from the Indian epic Ramayana is entirely predictable, but a taut screenplay would have done the job! When the Tamil version suffers hugely from a bad casting and a far from great performance from the usually dependable actor, Chiyan Vikram, the Hindi version excels in the performance section, but falls flat on the screenplay, which is a total mess in both cases! But as far as I have analysed, the Hindi version has a far better execution than the Tamil version.

The cinematography by Santhosh Sivan & V. Manikandan oozes sincerity and demands a standing ovation; The visuals add life to every dull moment, and remains the best part of this king size film. The DI is of international quality, and the expert colouring adds to the beauty. The music by AR Rahman is brilliant, but the background scores disappoint to a large extent! Veterian editor Sreekar Prasad saves the film from drowning down into the heavy rain forests, which is continuously wet! Samir Chanda makes every frame rich with his intelligent use of vibrant colours and art work. The actions scenes by Peter Hein are exquisitely shot with a lot pain and passion, which is evident on screen, as those are the only parts where the theater comes alive, with excellent use of Sound by Tapas Nayak.

ALTERNATE TAKE
If I were Sreekar Prasad, and if the footage appears to be poorly directed, I would have opted for a simple, linear editing pattern for Raavan, rather than screwing up in the non linear pattern.

Though Vikram is excellent in parts compared to Abhishek, who is mediocre all the way, the junior Bachchan as Beera in Hindi outsmarts Vikram as Veerayya in Tamil when consistency is taken into a note. But, people might end up rating Vikram better, because he is undoubtedly natural, and spontaneous. Prithviraj surprises you as Dev in the Tamil version, and comes out with an edgy performance, which stands out and ends up being far better than Vikram's portrayal of Dev in Hindi, which is shocking, but true. Aishwarya Rai has nothing much to do, other than portraying a poorly written character! All other supporting actors, including Govinda and Ravi Kissen in Hindi seems to be more into the characters, and convincing than Karthik and Prabhu in Tamil!

Leaving its negatives apart, the film surely has its moments. For instance, take a look at that scene, in which the character of Dev pierces the burning cigarette into a mere newspaper cutting! Well, that Mani Ratnam magic is hidden somewhere deep inside, but sadly doesn't come out. And moreover, each frame of the film is a separate, million dollar visual, which will take your breathe away; the credit goes largely to Mani Ratnam's vision as a director! Raavan puts you in a rather awkward situation, when you almost forget that you are watching a movie, and start rating the beautiful shots individually! And I have to admit that most of the film's major flaws went unnoticed by me during my first watch of Raavanan, and later on ended up noticing a few in the Hindi Raavan, mainly due to the above mentioned reason.

In the end when you leave the theater, all you remember is the stunning camera work, the nerve pumping action scenes, and a little bit of brilliance spread out in the 2 hour 7 minute saga! Raavan falls short of the expectations, but indeed is worth the money you pay for the ticket. I give a generous three out of five for the Hindi version and two out of five for the Tamil version. Its far from being a classic, but nevertheless entertains to an extent!

Hindi Raavan: 2.5/5

Tamil Raavanan: 2/5

(Watch the trailers again; they were far more superior)

Raavan is a proof to the fact that Mani Ratnam's film making style, is drowning away now; This is is just a stupendous piece of eye candy! Where are those subtle, dramatic moments, which used to fill our senses with pleasure, passion, gut and energy? Where are those smart dialogues? Where is the screenplay? Everything is missing here.

For instance, take a look at this scene, from Mani Ratnam's recent Hindi film, Guru, which is among my personal favorites. Its simply mesmerising, the way Mani's drama unfolds- with excellent dialogues, sharp timing, and mind boggling background scores! This is what you call BRILLIANCE!



Thank you for reading!