Stunningly spectacular visuals, Sleek and stylish technical aspects, crispy narration, powerful characters and magnificent performance from the cast makes Raavanan one of the best movies of 2010.Raavanan is the 21st century Ramayana by India's acclaimed writer- director Mani Rathnam. The movie draws inspiration from the crucial events of the epic; the kidnapping of Seetha during the exile, Ram preparing the army to invade Lanka, Raavanan falling for Seetha, Hanumans giant leap into Lanka, to send message across to seetha and cautioning Raavanan about the debacle of lanka, anticlimax where Ram insists Seetha to step into fire to prove her chastity. For those who have no idea about the above events, Raavanan would give you a preface. The story revolves around Veera ('Raavanan' Nick name); wild, untamed, dauntless warrior. A leader for his clan, his people worship and follow his path. He would not tolerate injustice against his people, this gets him into the police records. Dev, the police officer, who has been specially appointed to capture Veera, shifts to the area where Veera has established his reign. Veera intolerant of the action against his clan, kidnaps Ragini, wife of Dev, and there begins the cat and mouse game which bears shades of Ramayana. In the later part of the movie, we get to know that Veera's vengeance against the police is because of his sister's (played by Priyamani)suicide for the pure agony she faced at the hands of the police. Ragini, then, like the Stockholm syndrome, starts to exhibit a soft corner for Veera. Well paced second half and a riveting climax should be given a special applaud. The climax is the best of 130mins of the film as the performance of Aishwarya Rai and Vikram reach the highest level. Remember this; no other cast could've pulled out a performance like this. Thanks to Manirathnam for the best casting.Vikram has played his character Veera with perfection, making it his own, in few instances taking it away from mani. He takes each scene into his stride depicting ease with the character. Prabhu, who has played the right hand of Veera in the movie, has given a good performance. Prithviraj, Priyamani and Karthik (outstanding in his come back) have given their best; with Prithviraj playing Dev, the 'good' policeman with shades of grey, Karthik, in fact, seems to be the 'Hanumam' character of the movie brings back the flavor of his yesteryear touch, and Priyamani expresses with her eyes and jazzy voice. Aishwarya Rai as Ragani, the female lead is looking refreshingly beautiful and sinks with the backdrop. She excels in her role and on few occasions she matches the performance of Vikram. There is a poetic feel in the conversations between Aishwarya and Vikram, and its complimented by the scenic beauty around them. The abundance, splendour and the grandeur of nature has been captured by cinematographer Santosh Sivam and V Manikandan. The views are breathtaking; Mani's Love for rain is almost visible in every scenes especially in those conveying emotions. Cinematographers have done a fantastic job in recreating the spectacular visuals on the screen.A R Rahman's music is predictably brilliant. Most of the songs bear a rustic and earthy feel and lyrics by poet Vairamuthu glorifies the story. The songs blend with the visuals rendering viewers a treat. The movie has the stamp of Mani Rathnam's style in the narration, scene execution, but still, one does feel the scenes in the first half slack a bit in continuity and connecting characters. Yet again, the star studded combo of Manirathnam, AR Rahman, Santosh Sivam and Vairamuthu rocks the box office. On the whole, 'Raavanan' is a film that doubtlessly offers something new, fresh and exceptional. For those whole liked this movie i would recommend a movie inspired from epic Mahabharata 'Thalapathi' written and directed by the same genius ManiRathnam.

We know Mani Rathnam can handle epics quite easily and can twist it quite interestingly. Dalapathy starring Rajnikanth and Mamootty is the finest example. That is what I expected when I went to watch Raavanan. But watching the movie, I realized the story was never the center of attraction neither the direction of the maestro. What moved the movie along was the cinematography. Santosh Sivan and Manikandan have so effectively captured the beauty of the southern forests in the most mesmerizing manner.Coming back to the story, we find nothing new added to the epic except for the fact that the good has now turned evil and vice-versa. At the end of the movie, after witnessing the glorious work of the cinematographer, especially the climax scenes, we sense something missing altogether and the truth beckons on us that there is no credible storyline to the whole affair.SP Dev (Prithviraj) is on the look out for Veera (Vikram), a notorious tribal lord, a Robin Hood for many. He rules with his own laws and methods and this angers the police but are unable to do anything to capture him. To assist him there is Singarasu (Prabhu) and Chakkarai (Munna), his brothers. But soon something happens (revealed only in the second half) that makes Veera so revengeful that he kidnaps Dev's wife, Ragini (Aishwarya Rai). The rest of the story revolves around the Dev trying to rescue his wife with the help of Gnanapraksham (Karthick), a forest guard. The story moves on when the monstrous Veera starts a liking for Ragini.There was a time when I watched Nayakan, Iruvar, Roja, Dalapathy all with great enthusiasm and what I received from these movies were really great satisfaction as a movie buff. But watching this film with the same enthusiasm I felt robbed off all my money I wasted on the tickets. This is not a bad film but it is clearly not what I expected from a Mani Rathnam film. His direction has not proved anything with this movie. The old Mani Rathnam had style and substance in his direction but now what remains is just the style. Style alone cannot pace a thriller forward. The new Mani Rathnam has not provided anything interesting in this movie. It seems like the crux of the whole movie lies on the camera work.The acting of Vikram and Aishwarya Rai has to be applauded. They have given one of their finest performances. Vikram is like a vengeful monster who has kidnapped wife of the God-like figure on earth to settle a personal score. His performance is one of the highlights of the movie and which makes it watchable. It is a wonder we see such talent and beauty together and that is Aishwarya Rai; though her beauty is not of any relevance in the "plot" she has scored with a good performance. Prithiviraj as the tough cop has really matured into a fine actor. He has given a nice performance along with the other big names. Prabhu and Karthick have utilized their time on screen portraying their characters with ease and subtlety. Priyamani with her small cameo has given a memorable performance.But all this taken, at the end, we find the story to be clichéd and hope that the screenplay would have been better. The screenplay and dialogues penned by Suhasini Mani Rathnam does not show any ease or effectiveness probably because the story line is weak. By the interval time we feel exhausted at all that has happened but still we realize nothing has moved along. Second half proves better because of the short stint of Priyamani on screen and the final 15 minutes of the movie. And those 15 minutes is the only part in the whole movie that show "some" shades of Mani Rathnam direction. The characterization is so weak we never get time to realize the good has turned evil and vice versa or is it because it was so obvious from all the promos.A note on the music - AR Rahman is not at his best...but cannot say it was bad. It's okay and goes with the film smoothly.The plus point of the movie is cinematography, acting and the last 15 minutes….The movie deteriorates because of the absence of a fine story line and a poor screenplay which I believe are the most important materials in a film.It is not one of the best Mani Rathnam films and it cannot be called a thriller as there is no remarkable storyline to boast off and excite us. Watch the movie to see some good acting. But mainly, watch the movie to witness the amazing locales where the movie was shot through the eyes of Santosh Sivan and Manikandan, especially the last cliffhanging fight between good and evil.~ dillitalkies.blogspot.com ~

Usually a Mani Ratnam film gets two reviews. Either Brilliant or Boring. But Raavanan is unique in the sense that a viewer cannot tag this movie under any of the two Bs. This film has got it all - Big time pre-release Hype, Technically astounding visuals, sensational music, exceptional acting from the Lead characters, powerful visual metaphors and the fascinating intellect of the director, yet one feels at the end of it all something critical is missing. Raavanan stands up tall, but one expected it to fly high, which it never does.Mani Ratnam's movies prosper in the Hype surrounding it before its release, but Raavanan needed less of these hypes. For once, it seems, the publicity has marred the grip that the screenplay could have otherwise had on the viewer. For, the story is just a modern adaptation of the Ramayana and almost all of us know what the epic holds in its stable.STORYLINE : The face-off between Dev (Prithviraj) an upright police officer and Veeraiya aka Veera (Vikram) is the central post around which the movie revolves. Dev is the usual clichéd police officer, bright, upright, honest et al. Veera, called Raavanan by all, is many things rolled into one. Fearless, imaginative, angry, intelligent, good hearted, he is all these and more, but what he is not, is being new to tamil cinema. Veera is the tribal version of Nayagan, a la God father to his people. The Dev -Veera battle gains an explosive premise with the kidnapping of Ragini (Aishwarya Rai Bachan) by veera and his people to avenge the death of Vennila Veera's sister(Priyamani). What happens hence is the story we all know.PERFORMANCES : For the record, Vikram has the role of his life and one must say he has performed with panache. That the role would have demanded extreme levels of skill and mettle is out of question. Aishwarya Rai is another actor that Mani Ratnam has used brilliantly. She shines in her part. Vulnerability, ferocity, grit, pain, she carries all these emotions admirably. The pair of veterans Prabhu and Karthik do their roles perfectly. The technical front of the movie keeps the viewer hooked. Cinematography deserves a special mention. The camera angles and the visuals are spell binding and the entire feel is poetic. Editing is top notch, yet the speed could have been bettered especially in the first half. A.R.Rahman has added real muscle to the movie. His belligerent tracks are already a rage. The re-recording is top notch. Where words fail, the Re-recording sizzles. Kudos ARR!DOWNFALLS : Movies like Raavanan need Dialogues of the highest standard. Powerful, precise and razor sharp. But sadly, Suhasini Maniratnam's dialogues range from, Weak to downright silly. The power of dialogues cannot be questioned and one wonders how come Mani Ratnam over looked this aspect of the movie. But the principle disappointing factor is the weak characterizations. Every character in the movie has a very frail flavor. The characterization is confusing. One feels Mani Ratnam is unsure of how he wants to project his characters. It doesn't help either when the director introduces sequences to act as metaphors of the Ramayana. Introducing Karthik as a tree jumping comic caper is Downright SILLY! In retrospect Karthik's entire role has been botched by the director's persistence to show him as Hanuman. Such irritating aspects of the film bring the appeal down drastically. Another huge problem with the flow of the movie is the reason for Veera targeting Dev. Revenge is totally baseless. Veera's sister's fate has nothing to do with dev, only the director has to explain why Dev's wife is kidnapped by Veera and once again the number 14 keeps cropping up senselessly. One wonders if Mani Ratnam bit off more than he could chew. In concentrating on making the movie in three languages, it seems the director's concentration has slipped and the screenplay and the story as a whole have sufferedBOTTOMLINE : Ravanan scores high on the technical front. Direction, music and cinematography are un-matched. Yet, something somewhere pulls the movie down from reaching greater heights. The characters needed more definition, the scenes needed more pace and the dialogues needed to be more powerful, menacing and explosive.The movie scorches the screen in parts. Certain sequences are Vintage Maniratnam. No one can do what he does, better. The whole movie carries his intellect and his brand identity yet, summing up Raavanan is tough, for, no verdict can justify the product. But one can safely say, the Whole is lesser than the sum of its parts.

First things first. 'Raavanan' is not what everyone thought so. It isn't a contemporary adaptation of Ramayana. Instead, it's the Valmiki's epic meeting Shakespeare's Othello. The master filmmaker Mani Ratnam has apparently taken inspiration from these greatest works to narrate a gripping story in his own inimitable style.'Raavanan', right from the day it went to floors, has been rising a huge hype and hoopla. And expectations soared a never before high before its release. Does the end product lived up to all? To this question, the answer is- With a huge star cast chipping in with their best, mesmerising shots, crisp editing and riveting music, 'Raavanan' ends up satisfying the appetite of the masses.It has been a gripping narration from the very first frame. After 'Sethu' and 'Pithamagan', another side of Vikram's acting credentials is exposed. As Veera, he is at free touching almost every aspect of acting.Aishwarya is pretty and comes out with her best. Prithviraj and Priyamani have taken the challenge of being part of a Mani Ratnam's film and delivered their best. John Vijay walks away doing a negative role.Karthik as forest guard fits the role to T. His expression and body language are something interesting. Equally attracting is Prabhu. Munna as Vikram's younger sibling gets a meaty role to play, which he utilises well.The shots especially in the huge jungle, water falls, hot chase and stunts have been canned at their best. The tone and texture is amazing. All credits go to Santosh Sivan. Rahman's music is the highlight and it gets more sheen with the way it has been shot. 'Veera Veera...' and 'Usure Pogudhey...' still chime in our hearts even as we walk out of theaters.Running for little more than two hours, 'Raavanan' will go down in the history of Tamil cinema as one of the finest and best. Cheers Madras Talkies and Mani Ratnam for rendering a class movie that is racy and entertaining too.Watch only in theaters...............