Review : Raavanan

Film : Raavanan (2010)

Director : Manirathnam

Studio : Madras Talkies

Writers : Manirathnam,Suhasini

Music : AR Rahman

Cinematography : Santhosh Sivan,Manikandan

Cast : Vikram,Aishwarya Rai,Prabhu,Karthik,Prithviraaj,Priyamani,Munna,John Vijay

Tamil 127 mins

I have never reviewed director Manirathnam's films before but i've watched almost all of his films and needless to say,he and his films are in their league of their own.Noted for their offbeat storyline,superb performances,mouthful screenplays,to-die for cinematography and beautiful music,heck,the recipe is more than complete! What else is needed to make a great film? My favourites are Mouna Ragam,Alaipayuthey,Iruvar,Nayagan & Thalapathi.Who doesn't like his films anyway?Now,Raavanan,being his second film to be inspired from a Hindu epic,with Thalapathi being the first loosely based on Mahabaratha,this effort of his is more directly adapted since the title itself says it all.I shall write this review from a point of view of both a film enthusiast and an aspiring filmaker myself.

The Review :-
The maestro successfully adapted yet another epic and played it well in contemporary setting.What i love most about this film is the lush and jaw-dropping cinematography by Santhosh Sivan( Roja,Iruvar).He managed to capture and deliver the feel of the movie - wet,green,cold,exotic,raw and ethereally beautiful with crisp perfection,my God,if u reaaly lose yourself in the film,i bet you can smell the rain,shiver in cold like Ragini (Aishwarya Rai) and feel the sense of liberation felt by Raavanan(Vikram),all this even without watching3D,probably u'd catch a cold if watched it in 3D ! Like all his previous films since Roja(1992),the now Oscar Nayagan A.R Rahman delivers the sound to compliment the sight,and as usual,the man can do no wrong.Beautiful music accompanies the film like Samwise Gamgee did for Frodo Baggins,so spot on it blends magnificently,the songs transitions are never unnecessary,it flows with the story just like his previous films - Veera ,Usure Poguthey,Kaattu Sirikki are just awesome.Now,the performances,with a cast like this,the director who fails to milk the best out them,deserved to be shot to death !Not Maniratham,the guy's a perfectionist,hence those who sign up for his films are well aware of this and they deliver,so did the cast here.I realised something interesting here,the characters here are tailor-made for the actors playing them because almost all of them have played almost similar characters before.Check this out - Vikram as Raavanan is a blend of his Pithamagan,Sethu & Bheema
- the mannerisms,body language,body,facial features,diction gives a feeling of deja-vu and u'd be thinking nobody else could've done the role but Chiyaan himself !Sita,reputedly the most beautiful woman who ever walked the face of Earth,is played by Aishwarya Rai,again to such perfection which surely will get her nominated for an award - strong willed,brave,sensitive and goddess like beauty with glowing skin and captivating eyes packaged in a full and sensuous body,who else but Mrs.Abhishek?Beauty alone is not sufficient,Maniratham picked her because of her performances in Kandukondein Kandukondein and Bride & Prejudice.Watch those two films if u haven't and judge.Prithviraaj,tall,handsome,determined with sharp eyes and a calm,commanding voice is a good fit for Rama.He has played this character before people,in Satham Podathey - husband in determined pursuit for his kidnapped wife and wins with his sharp intelligence and relentless effort only here he adapts a  no-nonsense,much more serious toned character with a shade of darkness in him without the moustache !Bingo,u've got ur Rama and it worked !For the supporting roles,its a good blend of old and new faces.First up is Karthik,yes good 'ol Karthik,one of Manirathnam's earliest heroes,those days in Mouna Ragam(1986) and Agni Nakshathiram ( 1988).He's back here playing a loosely based character of Hanuman,a forest officer,how apt eh Mr.Maniratham??How do u adapt such a grand,larger than life,powerful and commanding character into modern setting?By making him a drunkard,tree-hopping,hapless forest officer?What the heck?But Mani being Mani,he must have his reasons i guess but why Karthik for the role?Because he can play comedic roles with perfect comic timing and funny dialogue delivery energeticly like his Mouna Ragam and Ullam Kollai Poguthey characters.And he plays it to perfection!Excellent choice.Prabhu,our fat,jovial and hearty son of Sivaji is playing a fat,lovable,hearty Singarasan,brother of Raavanan,a hint of Kumbakarnan.Why him?Because he can play it,think an old Chinnathamby cooking,eating and playing around but is violent and u have it !The younger brother role,played by new actor Munna,who i suppose is Vibhisana,is a good fit too.Priyamani,who plays the younger step-sister to Raavanan,Vennila is an obvious choice,who can can play a deep-voiced,brave sister role to bandit brothers?The tough girl from Paruthi Veeran can,and there u have it,brutally gang-raped and dies in the end,just like Muthazhagi.

So,what i'm saying is the master knows to play his cards well.He just knows who to pick to play his characters,who to hire to translate his story to visuals,who to rely on to bring life through sound for the visuals and his good ol'self to put the pieces together for a beautiful contemporary love epic with familiar but complex characters interwoven with great music and eye-candy cinematography.

Personally i'm both happy and disappointed,happy to see Aishwarya Rai delivering the Tamil dialogues herself,happy to see both veteran Karthik and Prabhu together again after 22 years since Agni Natchathiram,happy that Manirathnam adapted the story frm Ramayana,happy that so much painstaking effort is put by a lot of people to realise a project of a genuine maestro and happy that my dream to be a filmaker is constantly reinforced by the fact that they are filmakers and films that are worthy to be adored and admired by the world and i am fortunate enough to have such a dream in the first place which makes my life worthy.And i'm damn happy that Manirathnam didn't do a direct page-to page adaptation of Ramayana,thank God for that because.....you'll know one day :)

Disappointments are few..the film could've explored  Raavanan's complex ten-headed clockwork better,it should have been one of the film's main plot and the characters of Rama and Hanuman could've been better written.Lastly,the screenplay is slightly disappointing at some points.Other than that,its yet another glorious feather in Manirathnam,AR Rahman,Vikram,Aishu and everyone else's cap.Hats off for the entire team !! 

By the way,this is not the last adaption of Ramayana u'll get to see in your lifetime...the real live-action adaption is on the way....and its gonna take the world in a storm!! Patience is virtue,people :)

Reviewed by Amreish Siman