The title of the new Indian film, 'Raavan' that hit the cinemas this week, refers to the ten-headed demon king of India's epic tale Ramayan.The film by director Mani Ratnam, who gave us such classics as Roja (1992), Bombay (1995) and Kannathil Muthamittal- A peck on the cheek (2002) boasts of a stellar cast with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Ragini, a classical dancer, Vikram as her ruthless policeman husband 'Dev' and her real-life hubby Abhishek Bachchan as dreaded tribal outlaw 'Beera'. Former Miss World Aishwarya is a household name in the west as brand ambassador of Bollywood, mainly for her roles in blockbuster films 'Devdas' and 'Bride and prejudice' and partly as a regular at the red carpet in Cannes. She has been on Oprah and David Letterman and she and Abhishek are also the de-facto Brangelina of Bollywood and that adds to the hype and expectation surrounding the film.
The movie is purportedly a modern re-telling of the Ramayan. A 'righteous' cop's wife is abducted by a 'monstrous' tribal and the hostage is forced to confront her worldview of the dichotomy of good and evil. Kind of like a Harry Potter film from the perspective of Lord Voldemort, where he-who-must-not-be-named is not so bad after all and infact has great abiding interest in the french impressionists and loves puppies. Fascinating premise with great adaptive potential. And there are moments where it almost lives up to it but on the whole the movie fails in exploring the nuances of a moral struggle of the protagonists. The result: a warm if mentally unstable villain who mercilessly murders scores for a 'good cause', a self-appointed Robin Hood of sorts, and a cold severe hero hellbent on revenge, who gets none of our sympathy. And caught in this struggle is the kidnapped heroine, who is torn between her love, nay, devotion to her husband and belief in his moral rectitude and her grudging admiration, even love for her abductor. A Stockholm Syndrome on Ecstasy.
That is not to say that the film is bad to look at. The mountains, the waterfalls and the forests are captured brilliantly and the dizzying camera work of cinematographers, Santosh Sivan and Manikandan is perhaps the highlight of the movie. The stunts are skillfully choreographed and the final battle in the bridge is breathtaking. The music by Academy award winner AR Rahman is lively and the musical interludes entertaining. Performances by Govinda, as drunkard forest guard 'Sanjeevani' and Priyamani as the outlaw's sister Jamuna are impressive. The much touted on-screen chemistry of Ash-Abhi is impalpable and national award winner Vikram is squandered. It is the predictable screenplay and lacklustre direction, Mani Ratnam's strongsuits in the past, that fails this venture. It is hard to not wonder if the movie falls into the trap of being too beautiful; it's picture postcard setting not indicative of a savage forest and a beauty pageant female lead whose screeches and facial contortions cause more pain and suffering in the audience than what she allegedly endures. It is a thoroughly unengaging tale with hammy acting and oversimplified storyline. Surely we can do better. Epic. Fail.
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