Raavanan - The Bright lights

Directed by Mani ratnam, Raavanan has sleek camera work, powerful characterization and a brilliant adaption and portrayal of Ramayana in a contemporary fashion. Veera(Vikram) is a savage, who is apparently hunted for by the police but all the same revered by fellow villagers. Veera is also known as Raavanan in the film. Marked by a garbled diction and literally ‘ten’ mood swings, Vikram epitomizes Raavanan very well. Veera kidnaps Ragini ( Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) to avenge his sister’s ( Priyamani) death.

Ragini exemplifies Sita and is a strong-willed person. Her fearlessness astounds Veera and he falls for her. She constantly defies him however. Aishwarya , as Ragini, does her performance with élan.

Dev (Prithviraj) is the quintessential Rama who has to win over the evil. He enlists police personnel and sets on a mission to track down Veera and save his loving wife. Prithviraj, as the angry cop separated from his wife, fits the bill well.

Gnana Prakasam (Karthik), the forest officer, helps Dev with his endeavor. An embodiment of Hanuman, Gnana Prakasam comes across as a chatter box and adds humor to an otherwise serious scenario. Priyamani as Veera’s sister makes a mark despite her short role. Her performance is definitely laudable. Prabhu as Singarasu, Veera’s elder brother, does a neat job and so does Munna, as Sakkarai, Veera’s younger brother.

Ace cinematography of Santosh Sivan and Manikandan is complemented by AR Rahman’s score. Sreekar Prasad's editing is very polished and maintains the pace of the film. One however feels that the Suhasini’s dialogues could have been crispier.

To sum it up, Raavanan is a neat script packed with dazzling visuals. The film deserves 4.5 on a scale of 5.