From the moment I knew that Ravan is being made in both Hindi and Tamil, I decided I want to watch the tamil version. Somehow, Mani Ratnam’s movies have always been better to watch in Tamil-I think it is because the roots cannot be taken out of a person. Mani thinks in Tamil and so the final product always jells with the Kollywood watchers. Mani has tried to adapt it to Bollywood with change in the players, but still it is not great as per the general public.
Vikram is at his usual best, but somehow I could not understand his liking for the ice maiden. Though Ash still looks good for her age, still any other south indian actress would have been a better fit. Vikram as Ravanan was good and I can’t imagine anybody else in his place. The story of course need not be discussed, as it was the modern Ramayana with 14 days instead of 14 years, Kartik as Hanuman, Prabhu as Kumbhakarna etc. The jungles and the falls were beautiful. Priya Mani as the sister of Ravanan shone in her brief role. Prithviraj as Dev(Ram) was good too!
The violence and the darkness in some parts of the movie put me off though. Darkness in the movies is a part of Mani’s movies. ARR seems to have lost his midas touch, the songs were just average.
The person who stays back in your mind is Ravanan! Worth one watch for sure...