Skip to main content

Raavan - A Review


There was once a just king by the name Rama and there was an evil king by the name Ravana. Rama kills Ravana and saves Sita. Now thats the Ramayana for you and me. Well, the genius of Mani Ratnam meets a rather subdued perspective of the Ramayana in an epic called Ravan. A perspective that echoes the same sentiment as the temple dedicated to Ravana in one of the many unusual temples that adorn this country. A perspective where Soorapanaka was considered a beauty that was unparalleled by anyone. A perspective that recognises the various Grays of Good and Bad - just like the artistic appeal of the can of white that mixes with the sea of Black in the opening credits for this 5 starrer entertainer.

Set in the backdrop of stunning tribal locales, the opening scenes seem to reflect the chilling horrors of the recent Naxal massacre of the Men in Khakhi. Beera (Abhishek Bachchan) plays the eccentric dark protag, who dares to kidnap the belowed dancer wife of Dev(Vikram) - Raagini (Aishwarya Rai). The reason for this target becomes clear as the plot unfolds amidst thick jungles, heavenly downpour and of course cheesily crafted couplets from none other than Govinda! And as the fog lifts from this rather thick plot, the Ram in the Raavan and vice versa is seen. What is probably the most impressive thing about the movie is the way the plot reflects, in no real blatant manner, the actual Ramayana. Be it in referring to prominent motifs from the actual Epic to tailoring the characters to play the modern part, the handiwork of a Genius is seen.

The cinematography uses plenty of techniques to lend a unique feel to every scene - be it the crashing of the boats during the kidnap or the roundabout sway of the camera that keeps Beera in sharp focus. The Mozart of Madras leaves no stone unturned in composing yet another masterpiece. The background score during the climax in divine conjunction with the dialogues made for some of the finest finishes I have ever seen - Hollywood or Bollywood.

I might have missed a great deal in this brief review of a Masterpiece, which I hope to cover soon again. It's a must watch and so is RocknRolla btw :)
Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
Told you RocknRolla's good!
June 19, 2010 at 9:18 AM
srinaik2020 said…
haha ya... imba movie
June 19, 2010 at 10:11 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to create a mind.

Picked up this book at Word in Jersey City on a weekend afternoon. Did not realize at the time as to how old the book was. It made for a fascinating reading when on a five hour plane ride from Newark to San Diego. The coffee and the calmness conspired to motivate me to read this book with an attentive zeal I‌ had not experienced in years. The book is indeed awe-inspiring as the author starts to tear into the meat of the matter. Started to read this book again after a long gap. Started reading at chapter 3. The book talks about how the neocortex of the brain separates mammals from non-mammals and how the presence of a large neocortex has enabled humans to essentially dominate the animal kingdom. As a species, humans have evolved so drastically so as to be on the verge of creating the very intelligence that helped it gain that dominance. Scientific research shows how most of the neocortex is very uniform and the fundamental structure that makes up this uniformity is a neocortical c
1 comment
Read more

Kyunki...

No matter how many times they have featured on 'Things I Hate The Most' on Slam-Books and personality questionnaires, I have always been awed by the rich variety of 'saas-bahu' teleserials aired during prime-time. Why? Here is ,in no way an exhaustive list of their achievements( Due to obvious reasons I consider all the saas-bahu dramas to be a single identity) : The net worth of the jewellery in one scene overtakes the GDP of Eritrea. The costumes worn by a single person on one show beats the lifetime wardrobe of an average, sane mortal. The Bindis of a lucky select compete in size with Kosovo. The only set-up , fiction,non-fiction or whatever, where an older person plays the daughter if not grand-daughter of the younger one. The wiliness of the average bahu puts to shame even the most dangerous KGB spy. The make-up used for one complete episode can 'decolorize' entire Africa. The only family probably in the history of time to have 8 generations in one
7 comments
Read more