Raavan - Uncle neenga nallavara illa kettavara ???

I was waiting for this one to release. Behene de or Usire poagudhe is my current favorite :) But I wanted to first watch it in Hindi and then in Tamizh, because I wanted to see Abhi-Ash jodi in a Maniratnam movie (missed out 'Guru') and then based on how I like it, I will see it in Tamizh too.

A typical classy Maniratnam style'd movie. No doubt. With Abhi and Ash along with Vikram, well it does get better. The visuals are breathtaking. Camerawork has always been Mani's forte and you get so many montage and post card shots which makes you feel like going on a vacation there :). What is it with Mani and Rain ? While you watch the whole movie you feel like you are also getting wet due to the rain , the river and the waterfall, along with the cast. I wonder if anyone got cold or flu or pneumonia or any other health related problems because of being in water constantly ? Ok lets get serious.

Definitely not Abhi's 'the movie'. They say he did amazing well in 'Guru', which I haven't seen. But I liked him in 'Yuva'. This could easily have been the extension of the 'Yuva' character for him. He does his job well. Especially in the scene where he proposes (yeah...he does) to Ash to be with him forever, well, I thought, he wasnt all that romantic.... I atleast expected a captive look in his eyes which would convey what he wanted.. he tried..but wasnt that effective...but I can forgive him because as per the character he is a rough guy who doesnt know what the word 'romance' means. But he compensates that in a few other places where he says he feels jealous of Dev, and when she tries to fight him and for a second the monster in him wants to just hold her. He fares well, that is all.

Ash - sans makeup - God she is so stunningly beautiful. I am not Ash's fan for the record, but I have always liked the way she acted and looked in 'Iruvar'. She was promising, I would say. But after that, she was just a indianized barbie doll in all her movies, according to me. After 'Iruvar' I think she has done her role in Raavan to her fullest capacity. This is Ash's movie all the way. There is only one song for her to perform... which is a surprising thing. She has used her eyes extensively to convey her emotions in this movie. I always liked people who are able to say a lot of things with their eyes. Eyes, to me, are the real window to the soul. She scored for me because of that. She is shown as a very strong woman (which I like :) ) but as time goes by and when she starts to understand Beera and his people more, the more her loyalty falters. She softens up to them, especially to Beera. I guess that only natural. I can say more..but it would be a longer post... She is the real hero of the movie..that would sum it up about her.

Vikram aka Kenny .... I am a fan of his movies...my ever-favorite of his include Dhool, Dhil, Pitamagan. I have already seen him in the police officer get up so this was nothing new for him..but having to hear him speak hindi was definitely a surprise..and he did it without any south indian accent (I remember that one of my friend said I speak hindi with the typical tamilian accent) which is a definitely a big plus. As far as the role goes, well it wasnt anything special for him atleast as Dev. As Dev, there are only a handful of scenes where his penchant for his wife is shown. Most of the time goes in his search for Beera and even when he has found his wife, he wants Beera to complete his mission !!! And the way he gets back to him .... Does that make 'him' the Raam or Raavan ? It could have been better characterized...

I felt the characters of Govinda, Priyamani, Nikhil Dwivedi werent of much use and the whole episode of Priyamani could have been skipped. But I definitely need to mention one special thing about this movie.. It was so god damn decent, that even a gang rape was shown in such a way that the viewers were conveyed with the message, without having to go into the details. Romantic scenes are very less and more so conveyed with the eyes rather than the touch, which is relaxing. Background music is very good and well camera work and art direction should get awards for their contribution.... They have done their 200%. Awesome. Songs.... I felt that the songs Thok De Killi, Khili Re were not necessary, even though they sounded very well. But other songs were mostly in the background and it was done well. The way my favorite Behene De was picturized ...man....I had goosebumps.

It could have been shortened a bit definitely. 2nd half was more gripping than the 1st. Also the reason for Beera doing what he is doing and why Dev is against him is not explained with enough details. The focus was mainly on the Stockholm Syndrome :). Even though the basis was from Ramayan, it emphasizes that everyone has a Raam and a Raavan in them. Movie begins with Beera portrayed as Raavan and slowly the Raam part of his is explored and its vice versa with Dev. So as I had already mentioned in my earlier post, there is no such thing called absolute good or absolute bad... it is relative... Also to reiterate that they have took the basic story from Ramayan, they keep reciting the number 14 days, 14 years, 14 mins in many places.. that definitely wasnt necessary..

Definitely a must watch for Ash and for the Art and Camera work.....Story.. well you have already seen this in many movies...nothing new..except for the end... What would Raagini do at the end, after what Dev had done to Beera ? Will she get back to Dev once he has accomplished what he wanted to even if he had used her for his needs ? I dont think so.. She shouldnt actually.



Now I have to watch it in Tamil sometime, why... well I just wanted to see how Vikram scores as Veera !!!

Catch u later..