The great Indian Epic Ramayana has inspired a wide range of interpretations over the centuries. From folk and traditional art forms to various contemporary expressions today. Not to forget our school cultural version of the modern Ramayana that is still performed with a lot of vigour and innovation. Hence it is not surprising when we hear that one of the best directors in the country has taken it up for his next venture. With the entire industry at his disposal to pick and choose, Maniratnam tempts us with a dream ensemble of cast & crew. Promise to release it in 3 languages, keep the audience waiting for two years and he has the entire country eating out of his hands. The sheer exhilaration of grabbing those tickets and running to the seat is beyond explanation for any movie buff.
Raavanan brings together some of the best Indian cinema can offer. Let me rephrase that; the best popular Indian cinema can offer. That is the best in direction, performance, music, camera, art & technology. Logically, we should be having the ultimate cinematic experience. Unfortunately not even close. And why? Someone forgot that every film, irrespective of the people involved needs a story. I guess they thought the epic would take care of that. The conversion of the story to a movie screenplay is inadequate and shallow. Raavanan is a case of the captain too busy getting others to do a good job that he 
forgot his!
The story in spite of being so familiar seems like a few scenes put together. Sequencing of scenes suffers as there is no natural continuity. The struggle of the villagers, the place where they live seem too disconnected from reality in spite of the Tirunelveli / Ambasamudram mention. The audience is left with no element of emotional connect. After exposure to Bollywood, Mani seems to be dwelling in this one large village called India. Regional differences in location and behaviour are barely visible. The characters remain flat and predictable, except that of Dev’s. The critical points in the movie, where Ragini starts empathising with Veera, Dev ‘s obsession with killing Veera and Ragini’s reason for return etc. just pass without making an impression. Dialogues (Suhasini Maniratnam) are another reason for departure from realism. They are however interesting though occasionally pretentious. What could’ve really saved the show, in spite of these, is the ending. Just when he gets you to believe it is going to end differently, he takes a full U turn in some way, punishing us for sitting through the two hours. Maniratnam has always played safe with his plots. His endings are always politically right, uncontroversial and hence boring. (Eg: Thalapati, Iruvar, Guru and now Raavanan).
Having said that, the effort of several other people behind the scenes make the movie a definite one time watch. Santosh Sivan & Manikandan’s camera work, leave you asking for more stunning visuals. They bring the nature, foliage and water in the forests for the audience to touch and feel. The director as usual gives us the most distinct locations. Songs by AR Rahman, though did not rise to the hype, serve well in the movie. But none create the magic expected from the director- music director duo. Art by Samir Chandra is sufficient for the story telling, but the regional flavour is missing. The stunts, especially the climax sequence by Peter Heins deserves special mention. It is absolute team work of the crew that is evident here. Picking out the parallels in the epic and the movie is something I enjoyed immensely. Gnanaprakasam as Hanuman, Hemant as Lakshman, the vulture as Jadayu etc. There is even a subtle reference to the sanjeevani, when Karthik remarks that half a bottle should take care of Hemant’s illness!
Exploring the good and evil with respect to different perspectives, Mani Ratnam manages to give us a new look at Raavanan, as the misunderstood villain. In a story that lacks depth and emotional connect, the actors and the technicians do more than their part to save the day. The movie is a good representation of the epic in cinematic terms so far. But the depth that one sees in other art forms like Kathakali in the characterisation of Raavana is missing. Time for the veteran to take his story and script seriously and look inwards for inspiration, instead of playing to the big names in Bollywood.
