Movie Review - Raavan



Raavan follows the path that Rajneeti followed, setting an epic in a modern context. The difference is it fails owing to its writing.

Raamayan is the story of good winning over evil and this is precisely the undoing of Raavan.

Mani has the guts to make Raavan like Beera (Abhishek Bachchan) a positive character (audiences invest in the antagonist) and give Ram like Dev (Vikram) a demonic attribute in his zeal to capture Beera, than why didn’t Mani had the guts to let Beera kill Dev in the end – good winning over evil – thereby adhering to Raamayan and culminating Raavan.

The problem with Raavan is its writing, for in Raavan, Beera is the guy who has been wronged not Dev and the audiences, atleast the mainstream audiences, still want to see good winning over evil!

Beera is established in dialogues as very sharp and fierce. The opening scene where he crashes his boat against Ragini’s (Aishwarya) etches the fact in audiences memory, Ratnam had enough justification to show in the climax that Dev walks into his waterloo; with Beera being the ultimate mastermind, having prepared his team for Dev and his force and thereby annihilating the demonic-cop. Yet in a highly unconvincing climax Beera is shot dead by Dev.

The lack of characterization can be gauged from the fact that Beera kidnaps Ragini owing to the humiliation his sister suffered. Such a character would immediately kill or assault his enemy’s wife; he won’t wait for 14 hours forget 14 days!

Further, Beera’s brother is killed by Dev in cold-blood, how can Beera let Dev go, when he has already been double-crossed?

Raavan is a perfect example of how a good story can be marred by an implausible screenplay and flawed character motivations.


What rocks the movie:

Abhishek Bachchan who stands out inspite of one of the most ill-baked characters ever written
Govinda as Hanuman
The splendid camera work; the film boasts of breathtakingly beautiful visuals.
The opening scene of Beera crashing his boat in Ragini’s
The climax-fight on a bridge between Beera and Dev


What chucks the movie:

The script
No doubt Mani’s directorial touches are aesthetic; but the young audience wants content rather than a beautiful frame


VERDICT

Raavan is strictly a lesson in cinematography, as such watch it if you are studying cinematography.


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