Raavan, the most awaited Hindi film of this year for just a single trivial reason, it's a Mani Ratnam film. It's now almost more than a decade for Mani Sir being associated with Hindi films which started off with Dil Se. Though Dil Se did not fair well with most of others, for me it was one of the few passionate films made by equally passionate people. Be it the visuals, the music, the actors, the raw premise and the narration. The key technical crew members who were behind the making of Dil Se re-unite yet again to make Raavan.
To expect a lot from Mani Sir movie is not a crime, but I had to pay for it after watching Guru and from then I had slowed down my anxiety when Raavan teasers were running. At the same time, was very sure that I will definitely watch it on big screen for two big reasons one being A R Rahman's music (ARR from hereon) and other the camera maverick Santosh Sivan's visual treat (Sivan Sir from hereon). After watching the movie I was pretty happy to know that keeping less expectation may create or retain respect for any artist and I still hold great respect to Mani Sir. Not because Raavan is an exceptional film but at the same time it's not a dud either.
The first half kills the charm of the entire movie, it has nothing to stimulate Mani Sir's admirer's intelligence and that's where many of them have come up with sad and bad reviews. There's nothing wrong in that, but this happened with almost every other Mani Sir's attempt with Hindi movies. In Dil Se, the first half was going nowhere between the two estranged lovers, in Yuva it was running round a conflict without opening a resolution and in Guru I seriously cannot recollect what happened in first half. The same thing happened in Raavan, but I was skeptical about the second half and as expected Mani Sir bounced back, cementing his faith in me.
The story unfolds in second half and it held my attention till the very end. According to me, the climax was special because it did not take the mythological way rather Mani Sir added his own interpretation which made Raavan believable for me in totality. As I mentioned the first half was torturous for many reasons, the actors acting loud especially Abhishek, stale dialogues, story in hung state and shabbily executed scenes wherein the characters fall from hilltop. There was a point during first half wherein I started thinking that the first half might be directed by one of his assistants as Mani Sir was not keeping well. Phewww It was just a running thought though.
Technically Raavan fairs very average be it the camera work which is nothing exceptional, Sivan Sir had visioned his eyes more beautifully in Dil Se or be it the music from ARR which was very mediocre when it was synced with the visuals. The songs are beautiful but the placement of songs looks an insert in and the song picturization is nothing to cheer about, it gets cliche. To me 'Khili Re' and 'Jaa Udd jaa' were picturized along with the narrative rest were really out of place. The background score was mediocre but far better than Guru.
Performance wise Abhishek is inconsistent, he hams a lot in the first half and in the second half gives a decent controlled performance. Aishwarya Rai disappoints. Vikram nothing spectacular. Govinda why he was casted? Ravi Kishan and Priyamani played their part well. No actor was spectacular which was surprising, as in Mani Sir movie I had seen actors outplaying each other.
Narrative wise, Raavan is a single dimension movie and hides many small aspects of every other character and focuses only on the larger part which is good in a way but leaves many questions unanswered when the movie gets over.
In all Raavan is a film which is way ahead from Mani Sir's last attempt Guru and is way behind the passionate Dil Se. Some theist believe that Mani Sir's film should not be reviewed because the reviewers think they better know than Mani Sir, but the fact is that if and only if there are audience there will be a Mani Ratnam or in short there will be CINEMA.
My Rating: 2.5 out of 5
To expect a lot from Mani Sir movie is not a crime, but I had to pay for it after watching Guru and from then I had slowed down my anxiety when Raavan teasers were running. At the same time, was very sure that I will definitely watch it on big screen for two big reasons one being A R Rahman's music (ARR from hereon) and other the camera maverick Santosh Sivan's visual treat (Sivan Sir from hereon). After watching the movie I was pretty happy to know that keeping less expectation may create or retain respect for any artist and I still hold great respect to Mani Sir. Not because Raavan is an exceptional film but at the same time it's not a dud either.
The first half kills the charm of the entire movie, it has nothing to stimulate Mani Sir's admirer's intelligence and that's where many of them have come up with sad and bad reviews. There's nothing wrong in that, but this happened with almost every other Mani Sir's attempt with Hindi movies. In Dil Se, the first half was going nowhere between the two estranged lovers, in Yuva it was running round a conflict without opening a resolution and in Guru I seriously cannot recollect what happened in first half. The same thing happened in Raavan, but I was skeptical about the second half and as expected Mani Sir bounced back, cementing his faith in me.
The story unfolds in second half and it held my attention till the very end. According to me, the climax was special because it did not take the mythological way rather Mani Sir added his own interpretation which made Raavan believable for me in totality. As I mentioned the first half was torturous for many reasons, the actors acting loud especially Abhishek, stale dialogues, story in hung state and shabbily executed scenes wherein the characters fall from hilltop. There was a point during first half wherein I started thinking that the first half might be directed by one of his assistants as Mani Sir was not keeping well. Phewww It was just a running thought though.
Technically Raavan fairs very average be it the camera work which is nothing exceptional, Sivan Sir had visioned his eyes more beautifully in Dil Se or be it the music from ARR which was very mediocre when it was synced with the visuals. The songs are beautiful but the placement of songs looks an insert in and the song picturization is nothing to cheer about, it gets cliche. To me 'Khili Re' and 'Jaa Udd jaa' were picturized along with the narrative rest were really out of place. The background score was mediocre but far better than Guru.
Performance wise Abhishek is inconsistent, he hams a lot in the first half and in the second half gives a decent controlled performance. Aishwarya Rai disappoints. Vikram nothing spectacular. Govinda why he was casted? Ravi Kishan and Priyamani played their part well. No actor was spectacular which was surprising, as in Mani Sir movie I had seen actors outplaying each other.
Narrative wise, Raavan is a single dimension movie and hides many small aspects of every other character and focuses only on the larger part which is good in a way but leaves many questions unanswered when the movie gets over.
In all Raavan is a film which is way ahead from Mani Sir's last attempt Guru and is way behind the passionate Dil Se. Some theist believe that Mani Sir's film should not be reviewed because the reviewers think they better know than Mani Sir, but the fact is that if and only if there are audience there will be a Mani Ratnam or in short there will be CINEMA.
My Rating: 2.5 out of 5
