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 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
