Raavan Movie Review: A Big Test for Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan

After all the hype and hooplas finally the big day has come. Tomorrow, Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan and Vikram starrer Raavan will hit the theatres. The movie has been dubbed in three languages- Tamil, Hindi and Telugu.

In Tamil, the movie is titled Raavanan and stars Vikram Kennedy and Prithviraj Sukumaran while the Hindi version stars, Abhishek Bachchan and Vikram. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan played the female lead in all versions. In Telugu, the movie is titled Villain.

Raavan is the brain child of famous movie director and producer Mani Ratnam. The movie is jointly produced by Reliance Big Pictures and Mani Ratnam’s home production, Madras Talkies. Mani Ratnam also directed and co-wrote the screen play. The movie stars some of the top actors of Bollywood and South Indian cinema including Govinda, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Prithviraj Sukumaran and Vikram Kennedy.

In Raavan, Abhishek Bachchan plays Beera Munda, the protector of the weak. A tribal, Beera is the leader of the oppressed people of Lal Maati. A strong rugged man, Beera is anti-establishment and non-conformist.

On the contrary, Vikram Kennedy plays the role of Dev Pratap Sharma. Dev is a righteous police officer. A tough guy, Dev is an aggressive encounter specialist. Once he sets his mind on something, he achieves it no matter how tough the going gets. Dev is now on a mission and that is to catch Beera.

Aishwarya Rai plays Ragini, a beautiful girl who loves art and music. Raagini is the opposite and Dev but beneath the fragile surface, lives a tough woman who lives by his rules and does not compromise at any cost. She has her own views about people and the world and fights back when they are challenged but she also accepts different view points.

Govinda comes as a comic relief in the movie. He plays Sanjeevani Kumar, a gregarious, scruffy forest guard. He is an alcoholic and hates his job. He knows the forest of Lalmaati very well. He has great admiration for Dev but he also has a deeper understanding of Beera and his struggle. He is the only person who knows the two sides very well.

Other major characters are- ; Ravi Kishan as Siddharth; Priyamani as Serena; Nikhil Dwivedi as Laxman Pratap Sharma; Ashish Vidyarthi as Dev's Father; Manisha Koirala. Popular Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu also made a guest appearance.

Raavan, is a famous character of the great Indian epic, Ramayana. Raavan is the villain of Ramayana. He was the King of the Monsters and his kingdom was called Lanka. Raavan abducted Ram’s wife Seeta.

Ram is the son of King Dasratha who was sent on a fourteen-year of exile in the forest. His wife Seeta and brother Lakshmana accompanied him. Raavan was charmed by Seeta’s beauty and abducted her. Later, Ram and Lakshman, with the help from the monkey king, Sugreeva, saves Seeta.

The Raavan movie has a similar theme but is told in the context of the present day viewers.

Dev falls in love with Ragini, a beautiful classical dancer. After marriage, Dev was transferred to Lal Maati, a small town in northern India. In Lal Maati, Dev confronts Beera Munda, a tribal who, over the years shifted the power from the rich to the poor.

He is widely revered by the poor people of the region and he is the untold king of the region.

In his line of work, Dev knows that in order to establish law and order in any place, the first thing one has to do is take down the leader an in this case Beera.

Dev then challeges Beera and destroys his domination. Beera, in retaliation, abducts Ragini and takes her into the dense jungle.

The jungle is dense and scary. In this journey, each character must confront their own truth. The journey in the jungle will test their beliefs and convictions and emotions. It is not just a plain and simple battle between good and evil but more than that.

Raavan will be released in 2200 prints across theatres.