We know Mani Rathnam can handle epics quite easily and can twist it quite interestingly. Dalapathy starring Rajnikanth and Mamootty is the finest example. That is what I expected when I went to watch Raavanan. But watching the movie, I realized the story was never the center of attraction neither the direction of the maestro. What moved the movie along was the cinematography. Santosh Sivan and Manikandan have so effectively captured the beauty of the southern forests in the most mesmerizing manner.
Coming back to the story, we find nothing new added to the epic except for the fact that the good has now turned evil and vice-versa. At the end of the movie, after witnessing the glorious work of the cinematographer, especially the climax scenes, we sense something missing altogether and the truth beckons on us that there is no credible storyline to the whole affair.
SP Dev (Prithviraj) is on the look out for Veera (Vikram), a notorious tribal lord, a Robin Hood for many. He rules with his own laws and methods and this angers the police but are unable to do anything to capture him. To assist him there is Singarasu (Prabhu) and Chakkarai (Munna), his brothers. But soon something happens (revealed only in the second half) that makes Veera so revengeful that he kidnaps Dev's wife, Ragini (Aishwarya Rai). The rest of the story revolves around the Dev trying to rescue his wife with the help of Gnanapraksham (Karthick), a forest guard. The story moves on when the monstrous Veera starts a liking for Ragini.
There was a time when I watched Nayakan, Iruvar, Roja, Dalapathy all with great enthusiasm and what I received from these movies were really great satisfaction as a movie buff. But watching this film with the same enthusiasm I felt robbed off all my money I wasted on the tickets. This is not a bad film but it is clearly not what I expected from a Mani Rathnam film. His direction has not proved anything with this movie. The old Mani Rathnam had style and substance in his direction but now what remains is just the style. Style alone cannot pace a thriller forward. The new Mani Rathnam has not provided anything interesting in this movie. It seems like the crux of the whole movie lies on the camera work.
The acting of Vikram and Aishwarya Rai has to be applauded. They have given one of their finest performances. Vikram is like a vengeful monster who has kidnapped wife of the God-like figure on earth to settle a personal score. His performance is one of the highlights of the movie and which makes it watchable. It is a wonder we see such talent and beauty together and that is Aishwarya Rai; though her beauty is not of any relevance in the "plot" she has scored with a good performance. Prithiviraj as the tough cop has really matured into a fine actor. He has given a nice performance along with the other big names. Prabhu and Karthick have utilized their time on screen portraying their characters with ease and subtlety. Priyamani with her small cameo has given a memorable performance.
But all this taken, at the end, we find the story to be clichéd and hope that the screenplay would have been better. The screenplay and dialogues penned by Suhasini Mani Rathnam does not show any ease or effectiveness probably because the story line is weak. By the interval time we feel exhausted at all that has happened but still we realize nothing has moved along. Second half proves better because of the short stint of Priyamani on screen and the final 15 minutes of the movie. And those 15 minutes is the only part in the whole movie that show "some" shades of Mani Rathnam direction. The characterization is so weak we never get time to realize the good has turned evil and vice versa or is it because it was so obvious from all the promos.
A note on the music - AR Rahman is not at his best...but cannot say it was bad. It's okay and goes with the film smoothly.
The plus point of the movie is cinematography, acting and the last 15 minutes
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The movie deteriorates because of the absence of a fine story line and a poor screenplay which I believe are the most important materials in a film.
It is not one of the best Mani Rathnam films and it cannot be called a thriller as there is no remarkable storyline to boast off and excite us. Watch the movie to see some good acting. But mainly, watch the movie to witness the amazing locales where the movie was shot through the eyes of Santosh Sivan and Manikandan, especially the last cliffhanging fight between good and evil.
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