Here is where the creatures of the dark dwell; where fear creeps through the shadows of the…  

Here is where the creatures of the dark dwell; where fear creeps through the shadows of the foliage, the sounds of life buzz through the night and cascading waterfalls provide the spectacular backdrop for the damsel in distress..... the one who is taken hostage by the merciless evil who will stop at nothing to unleash terror. Then, there is the hero who will stop at nothing to release his love from the clutches of evil. The duel is engaging, exciting, thrilling and gruesome and if that is what you're looking for, then watch RamGopal Verma's 'JUNGLE' .... not 'Raavan'. When Mani Ratnam decides to create a world of a demon God in a movie, the expectations are obviously high. One: because he is Mani Ratnam, two: because some of the actors claimed it to be their best work and three: it was supposed to draw inspirations from the epic Ramayana. We saw the Mahabharata unfold in today's political backdrop in Raajneeti with some remarkable execution but such is not the case with 'Raavan'. Let alone the Ramayana, the film is not even a worthy copy of Jungle! All elements of thrill, intensity, evil, shock, suspense and terror are completely missing in 'Raavan'. The formidable Raakshas was a powerful character who excelled in what he did and the terror he unleashed was unfathomable but Beera's character is more like a maniac who has followers for some inexplicable reason. Neither is he terrifying in appearance nor are his tactics menacing and moreover, he is out to seek revenge for what his sister went through. The biggest problem with Beera's character is that he is driven by this vengeance. That is clearly not the purest form of evil unlike the real Raavan, Durga (Jungle) or Raaghvan (Aks). The sister's incident warrants our sympathy for this villain and to an extent, our support in his endeavour. How can one feel terrorized in that case? Mani Ratnam's entire premise of evil thus tends to be fallacious. If that wasn't enough, we have to evaluate how genuine Ram's (Dev) character is since he cares less about his Sita (Ragini) and more about capturing Beera. Sheer lack of consistency in plot results in the actors being confused about their unwritten roles, song sequences acting as fillers in screenplay, predictability of sequences and the boredom of audience. Santosh Sivan is perhaps the only reason one can withstand Raavan. His cinematography of the spell-binding locations, is exemplary! So are the sequences where every character is captured in brilliant light, shadow and close ups. AR Rahman's music, though not his best, captures attention with the upbeat Beera included in the titles and Behne De - the current epitome of Gulzar, Rahman and Santosh Sivan's work combined. Whereas, Thok di khilli will be remembered more for Abhishek's inability to dance, Kata Kata bakra as the unnecessary filler in a digressed story and Ranjha Ranjha and Khili Re wandering in the background as the story sets into flashback mode at different points. Thus, the numerous songs become a misfit in a demonic thriller and in the absence of merciless editing, they only tend to prolong the unease while watching. Vikram could've had a juicier role and that perhaps was the let down with his character. His performance too, lacked variety in expression. Govinda was a delight to watch in the role of Hanuman but his character was nothing like the Ape God. Although he provides comic relief and whatever sanity there was, he has a screen presence of less than 9 minutes which is simply not enough. Ravi Kishan as Beera's brother was very convincing in his role and was very expressive in almost every given scenario. Aishwarya Rai was just disappointing. All the yelling, shrieking, artificial tears (red eyed), irrational behavior and the profound obtuseness of her character downplayed all that she was otherwise capable of. Abhishek Bachchan has done much better in his previous ventures with Mani Ratnam and here, he is nothing more than an actor left by himself to do whatever he can with some ugly make up and the jungle around him. Where is the 'Raakshas' in his portrayal of Raavan? Why the eccentric behavior and straight face in seriousness? And why the sheer inability to perform a simple dance? Although the character was vague and incomplete, Abhishek, this time was a total disappointment with whatever he had. He seemed too casual in his approach in critical scenes. What is it that they say...... he just couldn't get 'into the character'. When the age has come for innovation, change, and novelty, Mani Ratnam fails to live up to expectations. The script, screenplay, characterization, plot, performances and direction were all flawed and these factors could've been taken with a pinch of salt from another film maker but not The Mani Ratnam. Watch 'Raavan' only if it airs on Television..... you will need the breaks. - 6.56 on a scale of 1-10.  

Ravaan is a very bad and boring film. Aishwarya looks old and it had very bad story. The film is…  

Ravaan is a very bad and boring film. Aishwarya looks old and it had very bad story. The film is outdated. Except, good performances from Tamil star vikram, everything is boring. After Ram Gopal ki Aag, Ravaan is another flop film, i have seen in my life. After watching Roja,Guru,yuva, etc. I was expecting a good film from Mani Ratnam. 

Raavan, like mani ratnams earlier ventures comes with a baggage of expectations.the film has a…  

Raavan, like mani ratnams earlier ventures comes with a baggage of expectations.the film has a linear plot based on the mythological epic ramayan with a mani ratnamish twist and tweak to make it hatke..the film wastes no time in establishing the lead players and their journeys to self discovery as their paths criss cross. Beera is the eccentric modern day raven but lurking beneath this beast is a heart of gold. Dev is the modern day rama who is on the path of duty and is not necessarily as good-as made out to be. Ragini, the modern day sita, is caught in the raging war between the two men..one whom she loves immensely and the other who immensely loves her. Aided by fantastic technical support.. the film is a sheer visual palleete of colours..bathed in exotic virgin greens and mashy browns with water playing a motif to the background..santosh sivan and manikandans camera work is snazzy capturing mother natures untouched beauty ravaged by the human war..the music though rabble rousing gets its high in the wonderful behne de<gulzaars lyrics are simply amazing> and the energetic thok de khilli and rustic khata khata. The performances from the supporting cast in tiny roles sparkle…wish they had been given more screen time. Priyamani leaves a mark. Ravikissen,nikhil dwivedi,govinda and ajay gehi make the best use of their roles..vikram looks fetching and is earnest but this talented actor deserved more in terms of a smashing debut. Abhishek bacchan invests in beera a psychotic energy and palpable inner turmoil..however this avatar is notches below his bravura acts in ratnams yuva and guru..now coming to aishwarya rai who gets a physically challenging role and performs credibly..those poetic dance moves, the graceful fall and entrapment in the creeper branches, those phonetic eyes conveying rage, hurt, passion and sympathy..aishwarya lets her eyes do most of the talking without any punchlines..santosh sivans camera captures her mature beauty to the hilt and the actress looks stunning without pancake and in a rather deglamourised role. The effort is commendable,, the pains the cast and crew might have gone through the filming is obvious but sadly the script, screenplay and the dialogues are a big letdown. We were expecting better stuff from a director of such immense calibre  

Honestly.. this is a well made film.. Iliked but only the matter is Ravan should have played by…  

Honestly.. this is a well made film.. Iliked but only the matter is Ravan should have played by other...better the movies like Houseufull (i gue this yr so far Mynameis Khan, Rajniti & Ravan was the best movies. i amsure more people will watch this movie n TV rather then in cinema hall, i feel for ravan role Amir would have been first choice, 2nd Ajay & third SRK . 

Saw Ravaan with fmly. Loved it & loved your performance. Dunno why critics ignored it. Ash lovely…  

Saw Ravaan with fmly. Loved it & loved your performance. Dunno why critics ignored it. Ash lovely as usual. Keep it up Abhi 

i saw Ravan last eve.....it was quite good....Aish was looking very nice and u wr awasome.. and…  

i saw Ravan last eve.....it was quite good....Aish was looking very nice and u wr awasome.. and sober...Chak Chak Chak Chak 

Ravan is a Superb work by Mani Ratnam and crew....  

Ravan is a Superb work by Mani Ratnam and crew.... 

i saw raavan yesterday n i thought it was brilliant :) apart frm the flawless acting.. the location…  

i saw raavan yesterday n i thought it was brilliant :) apart frm the flawless acting.. the location was gorgeous :) 

the first half is bit boring.second half is interesting n convincing.  

the first half is bit boring.second half is interesting n convincing. 

I totally loved the movie, you need guts to make such a movie, and hats off to you Mani Ratnam  

I totally loved the movie, you need guts to make such a movie, and hats off to you Mani Ratnam 

It is a BAD movie. BAD Raavan. We cannot afford to expect this from Mani Ratnam. He must focus…  

It is a BAD movie. BAD Raavan. We cannot afford to expect this from Mani Ratnam. He must focus again to get back to his past records. This movie is just a waste of time and money. DO NOT WATCH. 

taran adrash is a joke. he thinks he is best but everyone knows he can be bought easily. for ex- he…  

taran adrash is a joke. he thinks he is best but everyone knows he can be bought easily. for ex- he gave 4 stars to houseful, which was okay movie....and now here he comes and give this shit rankings to raavan. what was he thinking. i know it was not that great movie but watchable...at least 3 and half stars. but looks like mani ratnam forgot to give him money or he is not sajid khan who can tell the what the pathetic critic he is. in one of the award function next hear.