Raavan
By Jaya Rao
June 21, 2010
Aishwariya and Abhishek in 'Raavn'
UM Rating: B+
The movie "Raavan" is about a lower caste member Beera (Abhishek Bachan) taking revenge on the upper caste police members by kidnapping the Inspector’s wife Ragini (Aishwarya Rai). As the movie progresses, the evil deeds of both Beera and the inspector are unveiled as well as the soft-sided, good deeds they perform. Each feels correct in his own right, and the choice of who is good and who is bad is left to the viewer. Ragini is really just a character representing a reflection of what the viewer should be noticing throughout the movie although she interacts mostly on behalf of her upper caste husband, the inspector.
Two things the viewer will notice when watching this movie is that "Raavan" was directed by Mani Ratnam and that the music was by AR Rehman. If that isn’t a recipe for success, I don’t know what is. The cinematography was reminiscent of the movie "Bombay" and the music was classic Rehman. All the songs were very nice, and the performances seemed genuine.
As the movie progresses, Ragini’s character starts developing signs of Stockholm’s syndrome where she identifies slightly with her captor, and she shifts from a totally biased perspective to a more objective point of view. Without giving away the plot, there are undertones of a Ramayan nature to this movie when it comes to Ragini’s kidnapping, but the actual statement to be made is much bigger than the smaller plotline.
The disappointment in the movie comes at the last three minutes of the movie-- you need to see it to believe it. The movie should be watched in the theater because the cinematography blossoms on a big screen.
The movie "Raavan" is about a lower caste member Beera (Abhishek Bachan) taking revenge on the upper caste police members by kidnapping the Inspector’s wife Ragini (Aishwarya Rai). As the movie progresses, the evil deeds of both Beera and the inspector are unveiled as well as the soft-sided, good deeds they perform. Each feels correct in his own right, and the choice of who is good and who is bad is left to the viewer. Ragini is really just a character representing a reflection of what the viewer should be noticing throughout the movie although she interacts mostly on behalf of her upper caste husband, the inspector.
Two things the viewer will notice when watching this movie is that "Raavan" was directed by Mani Ratnam and that the music was by AR Rehman. If that isn’t a recipe for success, I don’t know what is. The cinematography was reminiscent of the movie "Bombay" and the music was classic Rehman. All the songs were very nice, and the performances seemed genuine.
As the movie progresses, Ragini’s character starts developing signs of Stockholm’s syndrome where she identifies slightly with her captor, and she shifts from a totally biased perspective to a more objective point of view. Without giving away the plot, there are undertones of a Ramayan nature to this movie when it comes to Ragini’s kidnapping, but the actual statement to be made is much bigger than the smaller plotline.
The disappointment in the movie comes at the last three minutes of the movie-- you need to see it to believe it. The movie should be watched in the theater because the cinematography blossoms on a big screen.