Devil With A Heart. Review on Raavan

Mani Ratnam is one of the most reputable name in the Indian film industry & every time he comes up with a film, the expectations are raised sky high, which also means that the film might fall flat on its face should it fail to live up to the expectations. One wrong move & the negative reviews will spoil the show for the film.

Post 'Yuva' & 'Guru' the combination of Abhishek Bachchan & Mani Ratnam are back with their third product 'Raavan', which needless to say has created a level of expectations among the film lovers. 1st day 1st show with 75% occupancy confirms the curiosity of the public for the film.

Now the big question - does it live up to the expectations? The answer is YES, the film succeeds to a great extent. Because the film has more positives then the negatives.

Aishwarya Rai, who plays the wife of Vikram is kidnapped by Abhishek Bachchan, who rules Lalmaati. It happens in the first 5 minutes of the film & the rest of the film is about how she is rescued.

Mani Ratnam being a master story teller has narrated the simple tale with great care. The film begins with killing of few policemen (burned alive) while Abhishek is shown playing the drums with great enthusiasm, as if it is a victory over something. Then in a brilliantly shot scene of Aishwarya's kidnapping amidst a location that can be termed as lull before or after the storm. Craftsmanship of the director at the best.

The film moves at a simple speed till the interval point & post interval the film becomes very interesting & entertaining. Barring the last 10 minutes, which majority of viewers can predict what would happen, the film is very unpredictable as it keeps your interest alive.

Though parallels can be drawn to the Indian epic Ramayana because of the basic plot of the film but make no mistake because the epic was about Lord Ram & the film is about a bad man Beera. Who for some is a terror & for some he is like their God, their saviour. He is ruthless but still is a man with a heart & the director has succeeded in showing both sides of the character successfully.

Santosh Sivan has shot the jungles so beautifully that you will fall in love with the green land. Photography throughout the film is stunning making the film a visual treat for sure.

Action scenes are brilliantly shot & the fight scenes between Abhishek Bachchan & Vikram on the bridge is an nail biting event to watch.

Gulzar has written some meaningful songs, which are well composed by A.R. Rehman, especially Behne De, Beera, Ranjha Ranjha & even Thok De Killi, which might not sound good while listening but makes a huge impact while you watch it on the screen as it shows the other side of Beera to all, including Aishwarya Rai.

There are plenty of scenes that deserves to be mentioned. The scenes between Abhishek & Aishwarya, Priyamani's plight, Abhishek punishing her husband, first encounter between Vikram & Abhishek, etc. are so brilliantly written & executed that it carries the trade mark of a great director with it. That is where Mani Ratnam scores full marks.

The dialogues are stunning due to its rough language used at times but the beauty is that they don't sound vulgur.

Vikram makes a very confident debut in Bollywood with a controlled performance. Since his Hindi is not good he is given small yet effective dialogues but he carries the film with his expressions & tough looks.

Ravi Kishan is good yet again with his Bhojpuri accent but this time his role was better then what he has been doing in other films.

Priyamani the actress from South makes her presence felt in a small role.

I remember Govinda has refused films like Taal (the role went to Anil Kapoor) & Devdaas (the role went to Jackie Shroff), what makes him accept the role in Raavan is beyond my understanding. A very insignificant role that is no great shakes. (1st negative part of the film)

Aishwarya Rai is in full form & delivers an excellent performance. She is first rate in every scene, you can see hatred in her eyes when she has to hate Abhishek & her looks in Thok De Kill speaks volume about her acting talents.

Devil with a heart Abhishek Bachchan as a terror & the saviour is the life of the film. His devilish laugh, ruthless killing & the friendly person to his people has been handled very well by the actor. Excellent performance yet again by him.

Mani Ratnam should be praised for choosing the subject, which could have attracted controversies has the script not been written with utmost care & he ensured that the film does not become a victim of any unwanted controversy by writing a script that might draw parallel to the Indian epic but will still be miles away from the originality of it.

I suggest read the reviews but be your own judge because you haven't seen anything like this before.

Rating: 4.25 / 5 Stars