de ja vu? I remember SLumdog faced with similar reactions. The west loved it and India was almost up in arms against it.
On Sun, Jun 20, 2010 at 7:31 AM, jeevinth <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Well when most of the Indian film critics are throwing everything they have > got @ Raavan the western world has a different take on it.... > > > The Newyork Times has called Raavan as "An Indian Epic With Bollywood > Glamour" and has gone ahead and labeled it as "Critics' Pick" now dats great > after reading our sleepy critics give it 1-1/2 stars > > Extracts from NewYork Times > > > > *MOVIE REVIEW | 'RAAVAN'* > *An Indian Epic With Bollywood Glamour* > > This film has been designated as a Critics' Pick. > > The low-caste Beera rules the forest in "Raavan," Mani Ratnam's richly > atmospheric adaptation of the Indian epic "The Ramayana." Though the film > takes place in the present, Mr. Ratnam's forest remains an appropriately > primeval place for mythic doings, full of fog and mists and rain and Beera's > mud-painted followers (shades of "Apocalypse Now"). > > Raavan (Ravana in Sanskrit), as every Indian knows, is the demon in "The > Ramayana" who kidnaps Sita, the wife of Rama: king, deity and model husband > (as Sita is the model wife). Early on in Mr. Ratnam's film the question is > asked: Is Beera (a gleefully hammy Abhishek Bachchan) Robin Hood or Raavan? > He's both — and more a hero in this telling, set on his turf, than is the > Rama character, a cop called Dev (Vikram), who matches Beera in brutality > and cunning, but not in heart. > > "Raavan" has Bollywood glamour aplenty, with the lovely if occasionally > dramatically challenged Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Mr. Bachchan's wife, playing > the Sita stand-in. The real star, though, is Mr. Ratnam, a talented visual > storyteller who directs action crisply and fills the screen with striking > images. (One, of Ms. Bachchan's falling body landing gracefully on a tree > branch, is so good he uses it three times.) > > *Artful but not arty, Mr. Ratnam, whose films include "Dil Se" and "Guru," > delivers the goods: There are songs and dances (A. R. Rahman of "Slumdog > Millionaire" fame did the excellent score), and an eye-popping climactic > battle, between the bad-good Beera and the good-bad Dev, on a teetering > suspension bridge. And that, folks, is entertainment.* > > *RAAVAN* > > Opens on Friday nationwide. > > Written and directed by Mani Ratnam; directors of photography, Santosh > Sivan and V Manikandan; edited by Sreekar Prasad; music by A. R. Rahman; > costumes by Sabyas Achi; produced by Mr. Ratnam and Sharada Trilok; released > by Reliance Big Pictures. In Hindi, with English subtitles. Running time: 2 > hours 18 minutes. This film is not rated. > > WITH: Abhishek Bachchan (Beera Munda), Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Ragini > Sharma), Vikram (Dev Pratap Sharma) and Govinda (Sanjeevani). > Raa > By RACHEL SALTZ > Published: June 18, 2010 > Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/movies/18raavan.html > > And some more Positive reports from losAngels times... > > Bollywood superstar Abishek Bachchan has the title role of the romantic > adventure epic "Raavan," but the movie belongs to his exquisite real-life > wife Aishwarya Rai. A blue-eyed beauty who resembles Myrna Loy, Rai's Ragini > is the wife of Dev (Chiyaan Vikram), a virile police inspector assigned to > bring down the wild-eyed Raavan, a bandit holed up with his men in a jungle > fortress. Before Dev can plan his maneuvers, Raavan kidnaps Ragini. It takes > a couple of hours to learn whether Beauty can tame Beast. > > Director Mani Ratnam and his colleagues give Bollywood fans full value. > Ratnam's pace is steadfastly brisk, and his film is replete with dizzying > camerawork, myriad complications, violent mayhem, broad humor, usual musical > interludes, a cliffhanging climactic confrontation and a finish that strikes > a note of poignancy. There's even a feminist undercurrent: Ragini, played > with poise and fortitude by Rai, draws sympathy while Dev emerges as flawed > as Raavan is crazed. "Raavan" is overlong and drawn out by Hollywood > standards, but is of typical running time for Bollywood. In any event, its > cast and crew are to be congratulated for their unflagging stamina and > energy. > > Source : > http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-capsules-20100618,0,1210817.story > > >
