Even a child would know the storyline of Mani Ratnam’s Raavanan: It is a contemporary take on the endearing epic, Ramayana. But the treatment given by the master storyteller and the work of the “star power” and technical crew has turned it into a two-hour entertainer. Living up to all the hype created, the movie is an aural treat with the verdant forests of Kerala proving to be most visually pleasing enhanced by the sublime, ambient background score.
The story begins with Veerasamy (Vikram), a forest brigand locally known as Raavanan, abducting Ragini (Aishwarya Rai) and taking her into the forest. The purpose of this abduction is to instigate her husband, superintendent of police Dev (Prithiviraj), into pursuing Veera into the forest. Even though she is a prisoner in the brigand’s camp, Ragini shows a lot of courage in the face of certain death. This impresses Veera who spares her life and develops a liking for her.
Meanwhile, Dev brings up a platoon of soldiers into the forest with forest ranger Gnanaapragasam (Karthik) who has simian-like dexterity. A cat and mouse game ensues with Veera, his second-in-command Singam (Prabhu) and his younger brother Sarkarai (Munna) leading their pursuers on a wild ride while slowly picking them apart. The story then culminates in a stand-off between Veera and Dev with Ragini as the overall prize.
The movie, as the title suggests, draws a lot of inspiration from the timeless epic, Ramayana. Vikram as Veera represents Raavanan, but with a good streak. From the beginning, it becomes obvious that he has put his heart and soul into the role. Veera has multiple conflicting personalities in him and the transition through these personalities has been flawlessly handled by Vikram who proved his mettle in a similar role in Anniyan.
Aishwarya Rai has put in a lot of effort into her role as the Seetha-like Ragini, but her role could have been fleshed out a little more to take her beyond one-liners and incessant screaming. Even towards the end, her personality seems to be meek and directionless which is in direct contrast to the mythological character from which she draws inspiration.
Prithviraj as Dev shows several sides of the character: from the husband who is madly in love with his wife to the encounter specialist who is obsessed with his prey and would do anything to catch him. His execution of the role is top-notch. However, as with Aishwarya’s character, it is not clear whether the lack of explanation of Dev’s motives was part of the film or an oversight.
Prabhu as Singam and Munna as Sarkarai are the duo that acts as the mellow buffer to Veera’s over-the-top antics and they have put in a lot of effort. Priya Mani has done her cameo well. The climax portions are the best with super performances by Vikram and Ash.
The credit, however, goes to the technical wizardry of Mani’s team. Be it cinematography, art direction or music, they never fail to impress the audience. The lush locations and Malshej Ghat form the perfect Ashokavanam for the forest brigand as he leads the police officer in circles. With natural lighting, cinematographers Santosh Sivan and Manikandan have brilliantly captured the raw feel of the forest with most of the movie shot in the rain.
The well laid-out village and forest sets, the hanging bridge erected by art director Samir Chandha, in combination with very detailed makeup and costumes for the villagers, give an authentic feel to the milieu. Music by A.R. Rahman is top-of-the-line as usual, with several songs, such as Veera and Usire Pogudhe, providing a great “rumble in the jungle” feel. All said and done, Raavanan is definitely a not-to-be-missed film.