Review: Raavan is ravishing but not high art

Film: Raavan
Cast: Aishwariya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram, Govinda,  Ravi Kishen, Priyamani
Director: Mani Ratnam
Rating: * * ½

Mani Ratnam’s much beleaguered ‘Raavan’ has finally hit the screens and it’s a true feast for the eyes but the troubles that haunted it right throughout it’s shooting schedule has left it’s indelible mark on cohesion and coherence of the film. First cinematographer V Manikandan begged-off due to unspecified reasons and ace Santosh Sivan was brought on board, then came Mani’s health scare mid-way through the shoot followed by several other niggling incidents plaguing the film. And it all shows right through the film.

The first half of the film that dwells extensively on the Sitaharan episode of the Ramayana, is especially unrewarding. Here Sita is Ragini(Aishwariya), dance teacher and wife of  Mani’s Ram, super cop Dev( Vikram) who is hell-bent on capturing escaped convict Beera(Abhishek Bachchan), basically a cross between Robin Hood and Veerappan  and representativeof  Mani’s Raavan. The camera is aimed high up in the air when Beera  first appears on screen standing atop a cliff ready to jump into a gorge. Then it moves down with dizzying speed following his dive into
the water. Cut to his escape from captivity fleeing into dense forests  and then moving to the scene where he kidnaps Ragini by crashing his boat into her canoe-again cut to scenes of her in captivity. Dev is in on the chase, seeks the help of a hanuman like character, a suspended forest officer(played by Govinda)  and so the great exposition plays on.- right up to the interval. There’s so much focus on technique and almost zero development that the narrative in the first half itself goes for a toss. Up to that point the camera is constantly on a whorl, there’s little story to tell, the language and intonations are unfamiliar and alien, dialogues are stilted and indistinct and the performances are style centered. Art design by Samir Chanda is exquisite and the camera captures every luscious detail of every set and location with great verve. But as a viewer you can’t help feeling cheated by it all. Other than a subconscious awareness of the artistic visuals there’s very little purchase to be had. Post interval the chase gets a little-bit more interesting.

The second half of the film has a little more to say. Ragini’s
inadvertent attraction to Beera, Dev’s obsession with Beera that
supersedes his love for his wife, the loss of face of a
Suparnarekha-like character(essayed by Priyamani), Dev’s fight with Beera on a bridge high up in the air connecting two precarious mountain peaks, Ragini’s eventual rescue and the final surprise twist which represents Sita’s agnipariksha are handled with far greater finesse leading to slightly better coherence and is therefore more rewarding than the first half. The battle between good and evil, between Dev and Beera, between Ram and Raavan in not all that interesting. But when the lines dividing good and evil start blurring there appears a semblance of depth. But the restlessness and irritation experienced before continues to linger.

The two halves of the film appear to be two different films
altogether. Mani’s  narrative lacks fluidity. The film appears to be
plotted like a storyboard representation of the Ramayana. The
highpoints of the story appear to be stringed together by high-end
editing, jump cuts et al. And it’s not in the least bit entertaining.
Beera’s character ticks are extremely irritating especially because
Abhishek plays him like a facial contortionist devoid of all feeling.

His body language is so stiff that his ability to blend into the dense
forests is always in question and this inspite of the ten different
faces he wears. Aishwariya is photographed with a lot of love and care but her performance doesn’t really achieve any high point. Ragini is the weakest character in the film and Ms Rai doesn’t appear to have the kind of talent required to rise to the challenge. Vikram’s Dev is merely a caricature and Govinda’s performance is typically populist in nature. Priyamani stands out with a heartfelt performance as Beera’s stepsister struck down by tragedy while Ravi Kishen is surprisingly restrained as Beera’s filial accomplice. Mani’s ‘Dev D’ like approach of couching the narrative with vocal refrains prevents the dialogues from being heard and understood. The dance choreography is as always top-notch- Aishwariya is given ample screen-time to espouse her nimble-footedness in a romantic number that intercuts the chase sequence. And it’s definitely the most delectable piece of dance seen on film. The wedding party sequence is also full-of color and gaiety.

The music though is reminiscent of Rahman’s earlier southern
compositions, none of the songs stand-out, they are merely passable and Gulzar’s lyrics fail to fit in convincingly enough. Mani’s film is an action-drama cum musical but despite the bullets and vertiginous action the drama is extremely plebian. You just don’t care for any of the characters and that is mainly why it fails to impress!