After more than 4 years of it's release and a million criticisms, I finally decided to watch Mani Ratnam's Raavan. After 122 minutes, I was awestruck by the poignancy and the minor details in this film that the director had focused on.
Let me tell all those who're reading this and have still not seen it. Most people got offended by the fact that this movie glorified Raavana, the antagonist in the mythology Ramayana and showed him to be a bigger man than Lord Rama, who they thought was being depicted as a selfish and shrewd person; who finally was able to make Sita fall in love with him or at least kindle feelings in her heart, contrary to the mythology. This is not the case. It's just a movie and the title of the film is with respect to what the police think of Beera(Abhishek Bachchan). He is a Robin Hood like character who loses a bit of his mental stability and innocence, but not his moral integrity, after a personal tragedy for which he holds the local police responsible. So he kidnaps the wife of the local police superintendent. During the period he holds her captive, both develop feelings for each other and the wife also becomes unsure about her feelings for her husband. During the chase, the SP becomes obsessed with the thought of nabbing Beera, while getting back his wife takes a secondary position. This is in no way comparable to the Ramayana, where Lord Rama was always genuinely offering Raavana a chance for truce and returning Sita back to him. The inability of the audience to separate the mythology from the movie is why it tanked in the the entire country except for in South India, where supposedly people worship Raavana and where the Tamil Version was a big hit.
Starting with the negative aspects, I absolutely loathed Vikram, in his portrayal of the Police SP. Then there was the editing, that could have been a little better and some scenes could have looked better polished rather than seeming unnecessary at certain places.
NOW, coming to the positive aspects . Abhishek Bachchan gave a powerful performance as the mercurial Beera and enacts the weird characteristic traits with aplomb. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is pretty good considering her limited acting talent. Govinda and Ravi Kishan excel in their respective roles. I really loved Priyamani , who plays the role of Beera's deceased sister, whose death is the layout for the entire story.
Another major reason for this film's criticism, is that most of the Indians have a tendency to enjoy brainless comedies, as we have a normal human tendency of running away from the stress in our lives and do not wish to see a movie that is a bit too serious.
I sincerely hope, that people do watch or re-watch this movie to observe it's sheer genius. It's unfortunate, that the role that should have cemented Abhishek's image as a versatile lead actor in the Hindi film industry,turned out to be just the opposite because of the inability of today's generation to appreciate intelligent acting.
Let me tell all those who're reading this and have still not seen it. Most people got offended by the fact that this movie glorified Raavana, the antagonist in the mythology Ramayana and showed him to be a bigger man than Lord Rama, who they thought was being depicted as a selfish and shrewd person; who finally was able to make Sita fall in love with him or at least kindle feelings in her heart, contrary to the mythology. This is not the case. It's just a movie and the title of the film is with respect to what the police think of Beera(Abhishek Bachchan). He is a Robin Hood like character who loses a bit of his mental stability and innocence, but not his moral integrity, after a personal tragedy for which he holds the local police responsible. So he kidnaps the wife of the local police superintendent. During the period he holds her captive, both develop feelings for each other and the wife also becomes unsure about her feelings for her husband. During the chase, the SP becomes obsessed with the thought of nabbing Beera, while getting back his wife takes a secondary position. This is in no way comparable to the Ramayana, where Lord Rama was always genuinely offering Raavana a chance for truce and returning Sita back to him. The inability of the audience to separate the mythology from the movie is why it tanked in the the entire country except for in South India, where supposedly people worship Raavana and where the Tamil Version was a big hit.
Starting with the negative aspects, I absolutely loathed Vikram, in his portrayal of the Police SP. Then there was the editing, that could have been a little better and some scenes could have looked better polished rather than seeming unnecessary at certain places.
NOW, coming to the positive aspects . Abhishek Bachchan gave a powerful performance as the mercurial Beera and enacts the weird characteristic traits with aplomb. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is pretty good considering her limited acting talent. Govinda and Ravi Kishan excel in their respective roles. I really loved Priyamani , who plays the role of Beera's deceased sister, whose death is the layout for the entire story.
Another major reason for this film's criticism, is that most of the Indians have a tendency to enjoy brainless comedies, as we have a normal human tendency of running away from the stress in our lives and do not wish to see a movie that is a bit too serious.
I sincerely hope, that people do watch or re-watch this movie to observe it's sheer genius. It's unfortunate, that the role that should have cemented Abhishek's image as a versatile lead actor in the Hindi film industry,turned out to be just the opposite because of the inability of today's generation to appreciate intelligent acting.