A man who sets his own limits…..

 

 Mani Ratnam, a director beyond excellence has put his sweat,heart and

soul into his contemporary take on Ramayana in the form of  Raavan.Pulling of an enviable cast with the likes of Abhishek Bachchan,Aishwarya Rai,Vikram,Govinda, Manisha Koirala,Priyamani,Prithvi Raj the film maker has left no stone unturned to unleash a classic.With the story being penned by himself along with Suhasini,his better half ,it promises to be one film which you don’t want to miss out on!The music which rolled out on 24 April boasts of soaring collections day by day and why not,with such experimental work and class by the humble maestro.His association with Mani Ratnam started long back with Roja,Bombay,Dil Se which were major successes in the music aspect.This time too,Raavan is coming out in 3 languages with the Hindi and Tamil versions being original and the latter one being dubbed in Telugu as “Villain”.

               

    Aishwarya who’s growing younger day by day with her charm is an

inevitable choice for the director to portray Ragini(Sita).She has previously worked with ‘Mani sir’ as she calls in path breaking cinema like her debut Iruvar,a wonderful saga of power and po litics and Guru,a journey of a leader born from the masses.This time she returns to play a dutiful wife who falls in love with a kidnapper.She’s hardly had any make up throughout the film and had to do a lot of dances and dangerous stunts.She moreover had to essay the same role in two different versions of the movie,Hindi and Tamil which turned out to be quite strenuous for the beauty.Yet her glow isn’t an inch less,probably that’s what beauty is really all about.

 

     Abhishek no less in caliber than his lady love is all set to play the bad guy in

the movie.In fact he’s worked an extra mile hard to get his “Raavan” act right.Abhishek and Mani Ratnam have been a lethal combination to reckon with.Films like Yuva,Guru have elevated Junior B’s position to good stature and now Raavan which is no less magical.This film has a lot riding on him and hope he doesn’t disappoint.Romancing his lady love for the 7th time on screen,he traps,fights,bruises and ultimately falls in love with her.This combination too is close to miraculous and looks to set the screen abuzz.

 

             Vikram marks a grand entry to Hindi film industry at the age of 44 with a

revolutionary Mani Ratnam.None could have planned the script better than this.A committed professional,who had to undergo many lows in his career to establish his foothold in the industry and make it this far and Raavan is a true gift to his grit.The actor who’s done momentous work in “Anniyan”, “Sethu”,”Kaasi” will in no mere doubt come up with something monumental this time around too.In the Hindi version he will be seen in the positive role as Aishwarya's husband while in Tamil he will play Beera, a negative character being essayed by Abhishek in the Hindi version.

 

On a whole,Raavan looks like a true winner in the hands of Mani Ratnam.The unbeatable package of drama,music,intensity will certainly hit the bull’s eye in the box office.He has definitely pushed the envelope forward for making reality cinema on par with commercial value.He surely has an eye for having the right people at his disposal.He’s been always the one who’s ready to take risks and set his own limits.Compromise is a word missing from his dictionary.Quality,substance means everything to this genius.He owes a film like this to the audiences.Here’s an honest wish for his mega venture to strike all the chords perfectly.June 18 marks the beginning of his test!