Why I loved RAAVAN

I guess my blog is taking on a "one post a month" form..... not the way I had envisaged it to be, but what can I do? Laziness has no cure......

This year, many hugely anticipated movies are scheduled for release. The first of them, Kites, turned out to be a huge, HUGE, disaster.......as I found out yesterday when it came on T.V. When it came out, I had been told not to bother watching it even if someone offered to pay for your ticket. I whole heartedly agree now, it wasn't even worth the time spent watching it on TV!!!

The next big release in line was Rajneeti, which has done pretty well, followed by Raavan, the movie which I had been waiting anxiously for, along with Action Replay and Guzaarish. That should tell you, that I am a HUGE Aishwarya Rai fan!!! :P But the directors associated with each of these projects too add to their appeal. Anyway, so Raavan released on the 18th June, and after finishing a grueling, frustrating 7 hour CSIR exam on the 20th, I rushed off to Sangam, and bought three tickets for the next show. And imagine my surprise to see no queue at the ticket counter, on a Sunday, for a MEGA release like Raavan, and that too in a cheap-skate hall like Sangam!!! I assumed all the bad publicity and reviews of the past two days were at work. Anyway, we set out at 6:30 for the show, and were made to sit through a nihaayati boring documentary on Emus n their farming in India!!! I mean, what happened to the good ol' trailers!!!???

Now the whole world might be trashing the movie, but I loved it. Nothing new in that, those who know me will say, considering I almost always like the movies shunned by the rest of the world, (read Saawariya, The Village, Zinda etc.) and tend to shun the movies which majority likes (Om Shanti Om, - the worst movie ever made in the history of cinema according to me). The basic complaint with both Saawariya and Raavan is the same, - that there is no story, nothing moves forward or backward, its static, nothing happens.......!!! Rubbish I say......!!! First of all, Raavan is nothing but a different take on the basic premise of the Ramayan. Now, its quite contradictory, and nonsensical, according to me, to say that a movie based on the greatest epic ever told has no storyline!!! pffft...... Plus, the movie is sol layered, that a black - n - white objective view cannot be applied here. I can understand why some people may have found it boring, n I assume these are the kind of people who made OSO one of the biggest blockbusters ever! :P ......

For one, I have never seen a movie more aesthetically shot. Each and every frame of Raavan is pure, visual delight. I for one was left wondering, where in India such pure, untamed wilderness, n virgin forests are still found!!!! The waterfall, an integral part of the movie, was breathtaking, and so was watching the lead protagonists trying to scale it. For sure, the movie had me in its folds within the first 20 minutes or so, with the song Behne De. The way that song has been incorporated in the movie, and the way it has been pictured, shows the class of Mani Ratnam as a director. Very rarely do the lyrics of a song fit the situation in such an apt manner in hindi movies. Aishwarya, in a dazzling performance, betrays perfectly all the emotions a person in that situation would go through, fear, anger, feigned courage, helplessness.......... while during that particular song, Abhishek's Beera is totally bewildered and flabbergasted with the courage of this slight, young woman....... played to the tee by Abhishek. Though I agree, in general his performance throughout the movie was jerky, and overdone and overcooked. But seriously, words fail me. I cannot describe the poetry n beauty of how that song lifts up the movie, its worth going to see the movie in a theater just for this, or rather, all the songs. Never before has music been so beautifully used in a movie, and actually carries forward the story. What the dialogs do not state, the lyrics of the songs exemplify. For e.g., thok de gilli exposes the under-stated Naxal element of the storyline, with its hard-hitting lyrics. The lyrics of Katta Katta, act like a double edged sword, literally referring to the plight of the groom one day before the wedding, and also serving as an indication of the imminent downfall of Beera and his clan. (Or maybe I read too much into it! :P) ..... What took me by surprise was how the chartbuster Raanjha Raanjha was used. You don't get to hear the actual song in its entirety in the movie as such. Instead, the lyrics of the song are almost chanted or narrated, in the voice of Richa Sharma at fist, and then Ila Arun in the movie, to lay the foundation of emergence of Ragini's growing attraction towards Beera. And Khilli re Khilli, has to be the most aesthetically choreographed songs in recent times, with Aishwarya delivering a graceful and beautiful performance. i believe, her chemistry with Vikram was even more sparkling as compared to that with Abhishek. Basically, awesome ,music by Rehman, beautiful lyrics by Gulzar and very intelligent use of both by Ratnam.

Except for Mr. Bachchan, none of the performances were found wanting. Aishwarya really excelled in a role, tailor-made for her, though appearing a bit too shrieky n shrill in a couple of sequences. The most impressive were the supporting cast, primarily, Govinda, Ravi Kissen n Priyamani. Watching Govinda's take on Hanuman, I somewhere felt he was born to essay this role - the perfect Hanuman. Though in the guise of a forest guard, his antics, n the tree -to -tree jumping skills, (which frankly speaking looked quite unrealistic) and expressions remind you instantly of the monkey-faced deity and he fits the bill to play the traditional version of Hanuman, I say. Ever since Bigg Boss, I have found Ravi Kissen really really irritating and intolerable, but in this movie he was quite watchable and his character, though under-written, does manage to leave an impression. Priyamani too impresses in the couple of scenes and a song she is there. It is with the introduction of her character, that the Ratnam twist on the classical Ramayan begins to unfold. Suddenly, Raavan is not the ultimate villain, and Ram not the immaculate hero. I quite liked this twist, as the movie progressed, you get to see the humanized version of Ram in darker and darker shades. Vikram is quite convincing, though never great in this role.

I really don't know why this movie failed to impressed the masses. Or did it really? Cuz most people I know who actually saw the movie have appreciated it. The reviews too were a mixed bag, and the Tamil version is a runaway hit. I guess, its just the media hype, and the usual "build something up to epic proportions and then drag it down mercilessly" phenomenon on which the TV industry thrives on today. Also, a failure to appreciate the cinematic beauty of the exchanges between the lead pair, the various internal conflicts each of the character goes through, may have put off some people. What really pissed me off was the insipid, mind-numbingly boring and mediocre dialog writing. The dialogs simply lacked conviction and strength which the characters demanded, and miserably failed to put the point across. However, the brilliant performances made up for that most of the time. I really believe it is one step ahead for commercial hindi cinema, and a movie which is truly deserving of a visit to the theater, even if only for the brilliant cinematography and music.