i strongly feel this is a master piece ,which has a shattered fate to be unnoticed. Every thing in the film the cast,crew,directors have the their long years of experience in the field of filmography. what could possibly damage the film. I consider the the plot as a major culprit. In Indie every child knows Ramayana the legend (other than Hindu children ,they learn it from TV or schools).The story of Ramayana has its one beauty. I strongly doubts the film , about its efficiency in capturing this beauty. I was bit bored when i watch it first time in theaters, i expected the magic of Maniratnam presented in the form of Vikram . But it doesn't happened .The entire film was bit slow ,we were waiting to see what happens next. The real wonder for me that, what ever the plot is and what ever the problem with it . The crew pulled the movie to the next level in all means .The Cinematography was brilliant ,every shot was taken by showing the breath taking beauty of forest . The actors was also performing to their best levels . In recent time we haven't seen Aswariya acting with this much dedication. In some scenes we feel is she is really kidnapped !!. I think the film is watchable for the fact ,the actors , crew had done the brilliant job . For Mani its a bit lack of magic ,he usually have when he make films ...

Mani Ratnam, A.R.Rehman, Gulzar, Abhishek and Ashwarya… the last time this team got together, they produced Guru which to me was the best work of Abhishek to date.Mani Ratnam is a brand name for those who know him. For me he is definitely a brand name synonymous of A.R. Rehman. Raavan came out with a huge load of expectations on its shoulders. The idea of modern take on an epic has always fascinated me but that came coupled with bad reviews from general public and mixed response from critics. A box office failure brought it low on my priority. I still ended up watching it just like that.I'm glad I did.Before everything, Raavan belongs to Santosh Sivam… the man behind the lenses that captured Kerala and Karnataka in a way nobody has ever done. The film is a visual treat. Scene after scene, it gives you a sight you can't forget. Jaw dropping landscapes, beautiful water sequences and mind bewildering greenery. Santosh was pretty good in Dil Se, Meenaxi and Asoka but here he takes cinematography to another level. Without a doubt, such camera work has never been seen in the history of Hindi cinema.Raavan is not a simple film to watch. It wants you to look closely and hear even more closely. More than that, it wants you understand more than just watch. It is highly recommended to get hold of a brief history of Raavan, Ram, Sita and Hanuman prior to watching Raavan. It will help you pick pieces. It boasts of intelligent story telling of an intelligent filmmaker.It does have its downfalls too. It starts swiftly with Ashwarya's kidnap in the first five minutes and paces up gently until ninety minutes when it starts dragging. Length of the film could easily be reduced by fifteen minutes. Even the climax was weak and not convincing but the overall experience of watching Raavan, for me, made up for these downfalls. I regret not watching it on big screen because I can't imagine how beautiful it would have looked on theater screens. Absolute pleasure. Did I mention cinematographer? Ashwarya Rai looks beautiful. Yes, I said it and make a note because I will probably never say that again. The only movie in which I found her beautiful was HDDCS but in Raavan she has amazing screen beauty. Coupled with beautiful scenes, the dark theme of the movie becomes easily bearable. She does her part well, although, goes overboard on a few occasions.Abhishek falls short. I commend his effort as he has put in a lot of hard work behind this role but the character of Beera is so difficult that he is unable to fulfill the requirements. Talking of Beera, which too is probably the most difficult portrayals I have seen in Hindi cinema. He appears very simple and something that has been repeated several times on screen but its essence is much more than what it first looks. The only actor I can think of who could fit into it very easily is Nana Patekar but he was too old for this role. No other mainstream actor could have handled it; it would not even suit Aamir Khan. I can forgive Abhishek for his shortcomings.Govinda as Hanuman doesn't have much to do but is funny in the little comic sequences. Nikhil Dwivedi is pretty good and a pleasant surprise. Vikram is brilliant. Ravi Kishan also surprises on several occasions. Priyamani was sweet in scenes with Abhishek.Mani Ratnam chose a very intricate screenplay. His previous films like Dil Se and guru had very simple screenplays and strong stories. But here is a director who has very clear vision and he knows what he is doing. The only problem is that he picked very mainstream actors for a non-mainstream screenplay. Mainstream cinema has different expectations from its actors which Mani deliberately ignored. He left a few holes open for the viewers which left a bit of bad taste I the mouth for a commercial film. In many ways it's an open-ended question. It was his vision that came up with that fight sequence on the bridge in the end; another thing which I have never seen in a Hindi movie or the initial chase between Ash and Abhi. The way he fits in songs in the script is perfect. Mani still comes out clean after Raavan.Raavan should not be treated as just another film you go to watch. It's an experiment of a genius filmmaker who has tried giving a new landmark to the Indian cinema. He doesn't get perfect result but he should get his due for this effort. If nothing else, watch Raavan for Santosh Sivam. The guy deserves this much for his work. It's not a memorable or ever green film but it's worth a watch. However, please take it as a pre-requisite to read a bit on Ramayana.

It's very unsettling a feeling when a movie drags and drags without taking the story ahead. I had no great expectations after having seen the trailer. Something in my heart told me this one's not working. The first hour in the theater pretty effectively proved so. It was going nowhere. The crux of the first 60 minutes is really just Beera (Abhishek) kidnapping the police inspector's wife Ragini (Aishwarya) and ill treating her. Why? You have to sit and endure (i.e., if you manage to last) until the second leg of the movie to find that out. No exaggerations here, but I saw people leave the theater within the first 45 minutes. It may have been a filmmaker's delight -- the cinematography, the performances, etc. -- but the audience really steps in for some sort of entertainment. Accepted that filming certain shots must have been really tough, but nobody sits out there and wonders what went behind making the film. It's the film we're interested in. The stuff I had to endure, though, made me wonder (there was loads of time to think :D) what was going on in Mani's mind while creating this masterpiece (read: junk) The second half was relatively a breather...for it finally gets to the story. If you like forests, rivers, cliffs, mountains, (130 minutes well spent), watch Raavan! http://eatpraylovemovies.blogspot.com/2010/06/raavan.html

I went in the theater with expectations which were lying prostrate on the ground already. Even that didn't help me from developing an absolute disdain for this piece of crap.Maybe the cinematography could have been the saving grace but then the camera motions were pretty non sensical and the background scores rubbish. Dialogs were naive and imbecile. What are we, 4 year olds? Some subtlety please.And yes Rama looked like Raavan and Raavan looked like, well Abhishek Bacchan which is not saying much really. Aishwarya's dialog delivery was mostly preachy bull**** with a voice that had such a goddamning repugnance to it.