Raavan movie review

Raavan

Director: Mani Ratnam

One and a half stars out of Five

IS there a dearth of script writers in Bollywood that everyone has to turn towards the epics for inspiration? First, it was Rajneeti, heavily inspired from the Mahabharata. Prakash Jha’s magical touch made the movie a marvel. But Raavan, a modern retelling of Ramayan, falls flat. Mani Ratnam futilely tries to give a noir touch to the movie; the art direction is good though, with the mesmerizing landscapes of Southern India in the background. Santosh Sivan has done his job commendably. But all things good end there. The actors in the movie fail to impress. Abhishek Bachchan manages to make a complete fool of himself by trying to portray a lunatic antagonist; his vain attempts at making himself look dangerous are laughable. Not everyone can pull off what Heath Ledger did in the Dark Knight. Aishwarya’s Sita’esque portrayal is much too loud and lacks substance. Govinda’s shabby, drunken, and easy-going forest guard character impresses sometimes but is painfully over-done.

There are raging inconsistencies in the movie which make it a drawl. The viewer is shown the jungles and the civilization of the south, and yet the characters speak in a tongue that is too obviously North. The script lacks a motive which should have driven the movie forward. Near the end of the movie, it seems that the director isn’t sure what to do with the movie. The desperation shouts at the viewer, and leaves him completely disappointed. Is there anything in the movie which makes it worth a dekko? Essentially, no. Take the risk only if you want to see the cameras dancing amidst the lush and vibrant vistas, or if you want to watch Ravi Kishen act naturally and flawlessly which his co-stars couldn’t do.