I am unable to understand all the negativity surrounding the movie. I went in without reading a single review of the movie and thoroughly enjoyed both versions today.
Started off with the Tamil version and was blown away by Vikram. Prithviraj didn't have much to do just like how Vikram's Dev had little to do in Raavan. I have to apologise for drawing comparisons but just can't keep off it- felt Vikram as Veera was far superior to AB and Beera. There was more sexual tension between Aishwarya and Vikram than AB and the same, I felt. More chemistry (oddly given that the latter are real life couples). Vikram was a lot more controlled and real as Veera than AB (eg the scene where Ragini is shown to bepraying to Lord Vishnu, the Ranjha Ranjha sequence). Loved how Keda Kari and Kata Kata shaped up in the movie- very colourful and pretty. Behne De was a class act. Didn't expect it to be at the beginning of the movie. Priyamani's role in both versions was gripping. Sanjeevani was slightly more comical in Raavanan, I felt. For eg when he comes to see Beera as the messenger, he says to him : "Don't misunderstand me, I am in his (ie Dev's) party but my vote is for you". Perhaps there were similar dialogues in the hindi version but it didn't get through the subtitles. Also was lovely to see Prabhu and Karthik sharing screen space in another Mani Ratnam movie. Felt Prabhu's casting was apt- especially since he appears to be the less of a warrior and more of a cook!Aishwarya to have gone through some of those stunts twice over - gosh! The worst of it: the scene where Ragini jumps off the clip. It's very artificial and clearly CG has been used for that particular shot. It's such a key moment in the movie- it's when Beera falls for her. I think it was shot very poorly. The best of it: Vikram (for me) in the climax and the scenes leading to it. More importantly, Ja Re (Naan varuvene) - just absolutely blow-you-away kind of material. How does AR do it? sigh. Apart from the movie being a visual treat, I enjoyed what we were given in terms of the plot. It led to some interesting questions (not necessarily with defined answers, in true Mani style) which for me was the beauty of the movie. Honestly disappointed that people found it shallow and boring. Considering all the mindless cinema we've had in the recent past, I loved what we got in this movie. I would recommend the Tamil Raavanan to those who've watched the Hindi version to see how Vikram's Veera sheds a subtle yet significant light to Raavan(an). The following were some questions posted by a group member on why the film didn't work for him/her. Here's my attempt to answer these questions(just a personal view) so that you could also perhaps see it from another perspective. 1) The movie is not boring, but its not engaging. The screenplay for me worked in most parts- I liked that Priyamani's track came in after the interval. And then things leading up to her death were all key moments for the movie- very nicely filmed, I felt. 2) Its very illogical (complete baseless scenes) for example... 3) why aishwarya is in a boat, where she is going? (baseless) Thought it fit well- she is an artist and often artists get inspired by nature. That landscape was breathtaking enough for even anyone with little interest in arts to get inspired and feel good about themselves. Note how she was listening to a song on her CD player when she was on that boat - I think she was looking for inspiration to choreograph for the song for her students? 4) why there were no people around beera in the climax scene (actual climax when dev chased his place by using ragini) I think in most parts of the movie (especially before the interval) we see that Beera/Veera is hardly "accompanied" by his men or rather does not require protection- he is his own protector. Also, it was Dev's plan. He wanted Beera on his own and what better way to get him down on his own than sending the woman he loved, to call for him. That was enough for Beera to let his defences down- she was his weakness and Dev played to it cunningly. 5) when beera has such huge tactics and people around, why he didnt abduct dev directly, when he was in the forest. atleast when dev kills his brother, he goes to dev's camp, explodes everything. this stunt scene was utter waste. people just come before the camera to be killed by dev's gun (stupid picturization, really!) I agree- it could have been shot better. As for the reason though- I think the impression we are given of Beera is that he's their strength- no weapons, no ammunition, just Beera. The only time they were able to "attack" Dev's entourage was with sugar! That was their weapon. There was no way they were going to attack him without any ammunition- that would be disastrous given that Dev and co were much stronger with guns and bombs- the only place they could get these from was off Dev's base/police camp which was home to a lot of what they were after. So it was inevitable that they went after it in the initial camp attack scene. For me however this initial attack (disguised as herdman) was more about Beera just being curious to see Dev's tent (curious to see what this man was like in his "kingdom at home"- the husband of the lady he has completely fallen for). As for the second attack - the death of Beera drove him to a point where he did not fear of death a bit and in the process didn't fear losing the lives of his men.Loss took him there. I think the song that's played during that attack scene has very apt lyrics- it gives an explanation for Beera's thought process at that time. But the scenes could have been more realistic. Much more realistic. Rather plain by Ratnam's standards. 6) sometimes beera's place is in forest (where dev interrogates people) and sometimes it is in some decently developed village Not sure I understood this one. 7) why dev hates beera so much and vice versa (again no strong base) Not sure if 'hate' is the word but Beera is Dev's obsession.He has been given the responsibility to eradicate this criminal and that is what he wants to do , blindly to a certain extent. 8) why Dev shoots beera in the marriage Easier to attack, perhaps? Note how he only shot at Beera. And also it's hype- cinematic hype.Tragic wedding is more likely to strike a chord perhaps. 9) unnecessary imitating ramayana lot of times. what is the point?! (without imitating scene by scene, mani could have delivered the message) This is not the first time Mani Ratnam has taken to Hindu mythology. He has in the past been beautifully inspired from Mahabharath for Thalapathi. It's not imitating really but it's an opinion he likes to present to us and it's his choice really as to how much he wants to stick by the original epics - in both Thalapathi and Raavan, it's clear he likes to stay true to the majority of the original storyline but brings in his own (/modern) take on the story to spice things up a bit. I think Mani Ratnam's films don't usually deliver any message per se. Especially here- I think his idea was to raise some thought provoking questions. Like his note on the movie website said : "Is there a Ram in Raavan and a Raavan in Ram? Who are we to judge who is right and who is wrong . . ." - the movie as he says was a journey through the eyes of Ragini. 10) songs usage was very bad..ila arun's ranjha ranjha spoiled the interest in the scene. normal version would be good. its not artistic people. its irritating! just dont say aahaa ohoo, just because we are fans My personal favourite of the album (Ranjha) and I was disappointed that it came and went in two seconds and to ruin it further I felt Abhishek was overacting! Vikram was far more controlled in that sequence. Agree with you- could have been placed better. 11) one of the scene (ragini praying to god (big idol), she was talking in the background with idol when beera is talking to her) A brilliant scene! That is when she realised that the husband she thought who was god-like may not actually be that. But she was trying to hold onto her initial beliefs but in vain. Irony of it was that she was praying to Vishnu (Ram is thought to be a manifestation of Vishnu in the Raamayan if I am correct). I loved the dialogues in that scene in the Tamil version. Vikram asks her a series of questions about her god-like husband and finishes off by saying, "I am now jealous.Burning with jealousy. Has your husband felt jealous? I may be insignificant and barbaric but the fact that I feel jealous that you are his makes me the most superior out of the two because he won't be able to feel this emotion"- loved what Vikram did there! 12) editing was terrible, throughout the movie Agreed! Especially the example you mention of how Ragini found the place- it's slightly different in the tamil version - a bit more transparent.
