A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

I saw this movie months back on DVD and this flick was just bad very bad.I don't know what were the likes of Mani Ratnam,Abhishek,Aishwarya thinking when they did this.Honestly the moment in the beginning when Aishwarya got kidnapped it spelt doomed.The script was terrible and to some extent the dialogues.The cinematography and the locales were not as good as it was said to be.The scenes were just dull.The music by Ace composer A R Rahman is decent the best ones being Behne De and Ranjha.The acting was just mediocre.Abhishek was just terrible in his part and almost overacted and looked horrible through out.Aishwarya was horrible her overacting got on to my nerves.Vikram was the better acted ones he was okay.The other actors including Govinda was so wasted.In all this movie was one bad movie that deserves to be avoided

There have been many adaptations in the past wherein the writer/ director decides to have a different take on the original. The task is nothing short of tight-rope walking. Every step has to calibrated for perfection. And the result could be either "Dev D" or "RGV's Sholay". If it wasn't for a few good things about "Raavan" probably it would have displaced "RGV's Sholay". Yes Mani Sir missed the bulls-eye by miles this time around.Right from the start, the movie fails to hook you. There are many loose ends. For instance the Beera's penchant for donning Robinhood's hat was not explained. His motive of kidnapping is explained when the viewer couldn't care any less. In terms of narrative the non-linear format actually plays the spoilt sport. Its an epic we are talking here and compressing it to 150-minutes made it lose its charm.Aishwarya gave her best to the character. Had the movie set the box- office cash register ringing, Raavan would have been remembered for her best performance to date.Vikram may have given his best but he needs another break to showcase his talent in Bollywood.Govinda - now the writing should be blamed for shaping up to this irritable character. Nikhil Dwivedi and Ravi Kishan were okayish. Yes, Priyamani has a strong screen presence. Abhishek - again the writing should be blamed for the way "Raavan" get portrayed on screen. Its a very contrived character. There is no harm in juxtaposing good with evil as long as support system can bear the weight. Sadly this very punch is missing owing to which the viewer has a disconnect with the goodie as well as the baddie and the the entire cinematic fare fails to deliver. A R Rahman's composition for Mani Ratnam has always been a notch above. Sadly it a let down this time and so are the lyrics from Gulzar. DOP is the only good thing about Raavan.

It is a pity that no one appreciates that mani ratnam is an authentic artist and not a director. Actors, visuals, songs, screenplay are just strokes in his canvas and unlike many filmmakers the artist never has tried or never shall be limited by the grammar of cinema.Raavan is not a visual spectacle but a layered metaphor with an intangible scaffolding. It is especially unfortunate that senior artists like Senior Bachchan fail to recognize that the artist i.e the director intentionally manipulated screenplay, extracted a particular kind of performance from the Junior Bachchan to paint a metaphor that is so eclectic, complex and yet beautiful. Even the resemblance to raamayan, and perhaps certain life of a particular jungle brigand, I suspect, where created intentionally to further layer and affect the metaphor called "raavan". I would seriously suggest people to watch iruvar by the same artist and the thin red line. Kindly don't try to analyze this work of art just try to savour it and don't watch it again as banality and sense of trite shall plague your experience.Some of the condescending reviews by Ms. Saltz, and Mr. Lumenick just reveals that unlike Indians who do appreciate, common art forms, such as cinema, that would inevitably be culturally afflicted, the western and even a few of the Indian critics lack the ability to identify that individuality and a will to avoid the boundaries of dictatorial cinematic grammar results in a pure and versatile form of art.

I watched this movie on the second day of release, and I really liked this movie. The plot is clear and good enough, there is no messy twists and turns.Aishwariya Rai, wife of a Police officer Dev(Vikram) kidnapped by a Raavan(Abishek) who falls in love with her.The way of story telling was really good, Santhosh Shivan(Cinematographer) did some great amazing stuff compared with his previous works. Music by Academy Winner A.R. Rahman stands tall in this movie. The locations, camera movements, background music are the few things that I would say incomparable. I don't remember a Indian Movie packed with all these stuffs and perfection in the past, this is a good one to watch with your family.