Raavan vs Raavanan! The hype and hoopla surrounding Mani Ratnam’s Raavan audio launch in Mumbai was fantastic. The film’s marketing heads ensured that it was the event of the year with the film’s hero Abhishek Bachchan and its music director A R Rahman performing on stage. The buzz on the Internet at that time was phenomenal and, though reviews were mixed, the music went on to become a superhit.
However, there seems to be little buzz about the audio of the film’s Tamil version (Raavanan), which had a soft launch yesterday. The audio made it straight to music stores with no official big-ticket launch that one would usually expect of an eagerly- awaited album like Raavanan which is Mani’s 10th film with the Mozart of Madras. Audio industry trackers state that the ARR-Mani combo has been the highest selling in Tamil film history since Roja hit the screens in 1992. Close on the heels of this combo, according to them, are the ARR-Shankar and Harris Jayaraj-Gautham Menon combinations. An audio trade source says, “Mani sir wanted the unique music of Raavanan to catch on with the audience. It is something totally different from Mani-ARR’s earlier ventures, and will take time to capture the minds of music lovers who are fed on a diet of dapankuthu. Music from the Tamil version is now enjoying major airplay on radio channels. A record 1.10 lakh audio CDs of the film have flooded the markets in Tamil Nadu and the response has been phenomenal. ” Meanwhile, sources close to the production house state that there will be a special Raavanan promo meet on May 14 in Chennai. During this do, Vikram and Priyamani will perform under the watchful eyes of A R Rahman and Mani Ratnam for select invitees and the press. We understand that the date has been fixed keeping Rahman’s busy schedule and availability in mind. When contacted, Vikram said, “There is only one word to describe the music of the film, and it’s ‘awesome’. Like all Rahman compositions, the tunes will slowly grow on the listener. There will be heavy promotions in the coming days for Raavanan. I always promote my films aggressively, irrespective of the language; just wait and watch.” The grapevine has it that for the first time Vikram will be going on a world tour from June 1, to promote Raavan and Raavanan, his “ultimate litmus test as an actor”, because he is playing Ram and Raavanan in the two versions of the film! http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Raavan-vs-Raavanan/articleshow/5893422.cms
