Starring: : Vikram, Aishwarya Rai,Prithviraj, Prabhu, Karthik, Priyamani, Ranjitha, Munna and others. Directed by Mani Ratnam, music by A R Rahman, Produced by Madras Talkies and Big Cinemas.
Rating: *** - Raavanan - Confused.

Prehaps the most anticipated movie of this year, rightly so given the cast and crew. The wafer thin story line is a poor adaptation or should we call it as the modern depcition of Ramayanam. There are several scenes in this movie that resembles Directors hit movie Roja.

Veera (Vikram), a Robin Hood-like guy also known as Raavanan, and his elder brother Singam (Prabhu) live in a tribal village somewhere near Ambasamudram in Tiruneveli. They both control the entire village and they are loved, respected and feared by the villagers. Dev (Prithviraj) is a police officer who is posted to this area and on a mission to capture Veera. In one such attempt, Dev misses the target and kills Veera's sister Vennila (Priyamani). So there begins the fight between the good and bad, the so called modern depiction of Ramayanan. Veera kidnaps Dev's wife Ragini(Aishwarya Rai) and initially Ragini hates Veera and later on sees the good in him and also finds out the darker side of her husband.



When Dev finds Ragini in the jungle he suspects her womanhood. A new battle then begins which becomes a battle between good and evil and a startling climax typical of the creative genius Mani Ratnam.This is the first movie where Karthik and Prabhu have acted together after the super hit movie Agni Natchathram.

The real hero of this movie is Santhosh Sivan awesome cinematography. Breathtaking views and amazing locations. There are several never seen before type shots and it is hard to believe that there are such beautiful places in Tamil Nadu. Another item worth mentioning is the choreography of a life and death sequence by Indian Classical dancer Astan Deboo, it is a fusion dance sequence and Ash had danced bare feet on a slippery ground and she had to do each step twice for the Tamil and Hindi version with both Abishek and Vikram. Really commendable job.

Music is a bit of let down in this movie. Based on the past, Mani Ratnam - A R Rahman combo has produced super duper hits but this time, none of this movie songs have topped any charts. Overall the cinematography and sincere effort by all lead actors will pull the movie out of a box office disaster.

Review by - 'Cinema Pakkam' AK