When the incredibly pretty but questionably-talented Aishwarya Rai is the best part of Raavan, then it’s not exactly a compliment for a film. While the first half of Mani Ratnam’s modern adaptation of the Indian epic Ramayana kicks off with a vengeance, with the swift abduction of Ragini [think Ash as Sita] by an uncouth, blood-thirsty villain Beera [think Abishek as the ten-headed Raavan], the pace soon becomes languid. Imagine being assaulted for a more than an hour by the stunning-but-slightly monotonous landscapes of Kerala and a few lusty gazes shot by abductor Beera to the feisty Ragini. The end result? The viewer feels a tad victimised.
Even the usually consistent Abhishek, who impressed us with his acting prowess in Ratnam’s earlier works such as Yuva and Guru, was grating. His O-T-T mannerisms include growling, shaking his head vigorously and emitting guttural ‘bak, bak, bak, bak …’ noises - doing little to scare Ragini or anybody else within five-metre radius. What’s even more surprising was the amplified morality that the villains seem to sport towards a woman. Imagine this: they abducted Ragini to teach her self-righteous cop of a husband Dev (south Indian idol Vikram) a harsh lesson. But their determination to protect Ragini’s chastity, despite being in close proximity for 14 long days with a beautiful (might I add writhing in clingy cotton) woman. Their hesitation was a bit too lofty for our tastes. Let’s not forget: Dev’s trigger-happy persona had cost Beera his sister, who was mercilessly gang-raped by morally-corrupt cops. But in all fairness, the second half redeemed Raavan from being a complete disaster. The cliff-hanger climax and the poignant scene in which Ragini returns to her kidnapper are worth a watch. The less said about the beefed-up Vikram, the better. Even if you are willing to step over his accented Hindi, his brawny act does not impress. In all, watch Raavan if you want a quick tour of Kerala’s cascading waterfalls and if striking imagery makes you tick.
