Raavanan
Ok so let me hit the iron while its still hot. Just saw Raavanan yesterday and wanted to review it.
The movie was a good watch. Afterall it was a Mani Ratnam movie and so was not a complete disappointment. Its true that there were no rivetting scenes that take your breath away despite Santosh Sivan, but its still unfair to call it a bad movie.
The pluses were the concept, the cast, and their performances. All of the main characters were portrayed well and the actors did a good job too. Karthik in particular was at his comic best. The most commendable was ofcourse the protagonist - Vikram. If Mani Ratnam wanted to make the viewers love Raavanan the villian-hero, he surely got what he wanted. Raavanan was quirkily charming and chivalrous.
Aishwarya on the other had was convincing as a damsel in distress. Her kathak was graceful as she enticed Prithvi Raj with her fluid movements, which brings us to the one person who had every thing to gain with this venture despite a weak portayal of his character.
Prithvi Raj can be excused for the lack of experience, but I wonder why Mani Ratnam chose this rising starlet for his Ram. Although we can accpet his pairing with the much older Aish by a far stretch of our imaginations, that was the least of the his woes. Not that Prithvi did a lousy job - he put in all the efforts that his limited experience allowed him to. But the one of the weaker points in the movie is Prithvi's character Dev, who failed to come across as the tough and fierce cop that cracks down hard on villians. There were a couple of chilling moments in the movie that makes one realize that you'd better stay away from this guy if you dont want any trouble, but it doesnt last long and fails to leave a lasting impression on the viewers.
The music was good and compliments the mood and nature of the movie very well supported by moving lyrics. Rahman works his magic once again.
The precarious fight scene on the bridge was not something that makes you hold ur breath - another major weak point. There have been mediocre movies that have had better climax fight numbers, though the ending of the movie all but salvaged the not-so-breath-taking encounter of the two nemises.
Is Mani Ratnam loosing touch or are we simply being unfair on him by bearing him dowm with the weight of sky-rocketing expectations, and not to mention the media hype.
Hype is a bitter sweet ingredient that is essential for a movie but which can also be damning to the movie when the expectations break the roof and the movie falters ever so lightly. Today's movie savvy audience is very advanced. They have seen it all and to wow them is no child's play. Gone are the days when a movie comes along and sweeps us all with either its story or the visuals or the performances. Now the viewers expect every thing from their movies. They want to be visually treated to a dream, want different, unique wowing stories and moving performances, catchy tunes, sharp narrations and convincing characters all in one movie.
So i think we can cut Mani Ratnam some slack here and spare him the caustic remarks. It was a job well done and deserves the credit for what its worth. All in all Raavanan is a good watch.
The movie was a good watch. Afterall it was a Mani Ratnam movie and so was not a complete disappointment. Its true that there were no rivetting scenes that take your breath away despite Santosh Sivan, but its still unfair to call it a bad movie.
The pluses were the concept, the cast, and their performances. All of the main characters were portrayed well and the actors did a good job too. Karthik in particular was at his comic best. The most commendable was ofcourse the protagonist - Vikram. If Mani Ratnam wanted to make the viewers love Raavanan the villian-hero, he surely got what he wanted. Raavanan was quirkily charming and chivalrous.
Aishwarya on the other had was convincing as a damsel in distress. Her kathak was graceful as she enticed Prithvi Raj with her fluid movements, which brings us to the one person who had every thing to gain with this venture despite a weak portayal of his character.
Prithvi Raj can be excused for the lack of experience, but I wonder why Mani Ratnam chose this rising starlet for his Ram. Although we can accpet his pairing with the much older Aish by a far stretch of our imaginations, that was the least of the his woes. Not that Prithvi did a lousy job - he put in all the efforts that his limited experience allowed him to. But the one of the weaker points in the movie is Prithvi's character Dev, who failed to come across as the tough and fierce cop that cracks down hard on villians. There were a couple of chilling moments in the movie that makes one realize that you'd better stay away from this guy if you dont want any trouble, but it doesnt last long and fails to leave a lasting impression on the viewers.
The music was good and compliments the mood and nature of the movie very well supported by moving lyrics. Rahman works his magic once again.
The precarious fight scene on the bridge was not something that makes you hold ur breath - another major weak point. There have been mediocre movies that have had better climax fight numbers, though the ending of the movie all but salvaged the not-so-breath-taking encounter of the two nemises.
Is Mani Ratnam loosing touch or are we simply being unfair on him by bearing him dowm with the weight of sky-rocketing expectations, and not to mention the media hype.
Hype is a bitter sweet ingredient that is essential for a movie but which can also be damning to the movie when the expectations break the roof and the movie falters ever so lightly. Today's movie savvy audience is very advanced. They have seen it all and to wow them is no child's play. Gone are the days when a movie comes along and sweeps us all with either its story or the visuals or the performances. Now the viewers expect every thing from their movies. They want to be visually treated to a dream, want different, unique wowing stories and moving performances, catchy tunes, sharp narrations and convincing characters all in one movie.
So i think we can cut Mani Ratnam some slack here and spare him the caustic remarks. It was a job well done and deserves the credit for what its worth. All in all Raavanan is a good watch.
Comments
He could have made this a better movie with a little better explantion for the story he was trying to tell the audience. ARR music again touched. I hear it atleast once a day.. got adicted. ;)