My Take - Movie - Raavan

Since the last weekend, when this movie got released, almost everyone who's in touch with me and had watched the movie said that it was not good. Everyone almost in unison agreed that there was nothing in the movie except the cinematography. And that the movie was an almost copy of Ramayana. Almost, because during climax, the movie differs, a little, from the Epic.

The concept of the movie is, actually, picked up from Ramayana. If I would have to present the story in a couple of lines it would be that Ravana kidnaps Ram's wife Sita but couldn't kill her. Ram finds Hanuman and with his help finds Sita and kills Ravana. Sounds pretty boring and a bad guy - good guy story that we've seen so many times?? But there you are mistaken. Ravana, here, is shown to be a Robin Hood.. and the Ram we are talking about.. Oh!! he's not a divine being.. he too has his flaws. So who's the hero of the movie.. Hmm.. Viewer sympathies go with Ravana.. And the Sita here.. too seems to be impressed by this Ravana...

I would say that the movie is a new take about the epic we know as Ramayana. It's just another perspective at it after greying out the characters of both Ram and Ravana. Just another perspective after deglorifying a part of the epic. After making the characters real.
If u look at it as a standalone movie the story may seem almost nothing. But, I guess, the director gave it the name Raavan, for a reason. So that, it is to be seen in connection with the great epic. So that it is clear that this is his perspective of the great epic deglorified.

The beautiful Kerala and Konkan backdrops simply look gorgeous. The acting in the movie too is pretty good.. apart from Aishwarya... who seems as if she has forgotten how to look real...
Earlier I had heard a few people terming the acting of Abhishek as pathetic.. as if he was acting like a madman... But my perspective again is a li'l different... A lot of times it is told that he has 10 heads.. In one scene I remember, it's actually shown that inside his head a lot of thoughts rang but he listened to one and spoke out only that one.. That I think is the reason why he's shown as a madman... A lot of thoughts ringing inside his head...

To be honest, I liked the movie because it slightly represents a concept, a theory, that I have been thinking for long. Because it made me think along those lines again. I'll put the theory in a separate blog entry. But about this movie.. I simply say that this is at least a one time watch but leave the religious taboos at home and think What If this was what actually happened. What If, Raavan, was not all wrong.. What If Ram was not all correct... I just ask you to think What If??

My take - Movie - Rajneeti

Just came back after watching the Hindi flick Rajneeti. The word if translated in English means "politics" which was the central theme of the movie. My take on this is: One of the most awaited movies of 2010 summer turns out to be a no go...

I was waiting for this movie. Yet now that I've seen it.. I'm disappointed. Everyone around me is liking it so much that they are giving an almost perfect rating to the movie. But is it worth?? I let you decide. Here are a few questions and reasons why I think it a failure:

1. Weak Story: The story line seemed to be concocted only to connect the political moves and twists present. But somehow the quantity of twists was so much that story was never developed. U'll see the examples below.

2. Loose ends: The story seemed to suffer with too many twists. To give time to all those twists, it seems, a lot of other masterstrokes that were started were not followed up till the end. egs:

i. The movie was all about elections... right?? There were two major seats since starting which were under contest: Madhopur and AazadNagar. Nana Patekar, in one political masterstroke, to remove Ajay Devgan from contention, announced that Ajay Devgan's father would be contesting elections from AazadNagar when he clearly knows that Ajay Devgan wants to contest the elections from there. This was some idea!!! What happens then? AH!! No idea... The party splits and still no idea. Infact the movie ends and still no idea. Did Ajay Devgan contest elections. If so, from what seat. No data.
ii. The other seat. Madhopur. Ranbir Kapoor, in his very first political observation says, that if Manoj Vajpayee wants to contest elections from Madhopur, the party can easily create situations that he loses. But in the end I'm not clear whether he lost because of vote count or because of his death. Also Ranbir Kapoor's observation is never heard of again in the movie.

3. Copying??: Was it only me or did other people too saw hints of other movies. More than four times did I see GodFather in this movie. Of Course being a Hindi movie there was a slight difference that was added. But still people. Where the hell is your creativity. Is this what you call creativeness?? egs:

i. The most recognized is the Car Bomb which goes off killing Michael Corleone's wife in Italy. Here it's Ranbir Kapoor's love interest and of course to show some originality they throw in Arjun Rampal too. It's almost the same otherwise. The security guard is running off alerting Arjun Rampal.. just like in the novel.
ii. Remember the death of Sonny Corleone on the causeway. It's a little different here. Because, our little local spoiled Sonny(Manoj Vajpayee) has a friend in Ajay Devgan. Otherwise. He gets a call. Leaves the house alone. With few people(here Ajay) behind him. And then we find out that it was a setup. An ambush. Sounds similar??
iii. Remember the death of Carlo Rizzi, the husband of Connie Corleone. Oh!! He was family. So you confirm that he had a hand in killing Michael's father and Michael kills him. Do I need to say any more than "BabuLal"?? And please. don't bother with the minor differences. Those are what you call Hindi film adaptation.
iv. In one of the last chapters Kay Adams finds Michael Corleone in a posture that simply suggests his superiority. Here, the ignorant Sara, wanders into the room to find Ranbir Kapoor in a similar position with Babulal.
v. When Babulal wakes up with blood over him and someone with a slit throat next to him I'm reminded of the famous dramatic scene of the horsehead in the bed of Jack Woltz. Motive in both the cases: Persuasion.

4. No Subtlety: Again, not sure, if it was only me or others too saw this. Everytime a political move is shown the explanation follows. Or sometimes there's so much buildup that you actually know what's going to happen. egs:

i. Ajay Devgan tells Manoj Vajpayee that they'll change the face on Party poster. Next scene is Ranbir Kapoor leaving for US and his father finding some time to drop him to airport. And as soon as Ranbir Kapoor leaves, he gets a call from someone we already know is with Ajay Devgan. So what happens next. Of Course!! A murder!! Perfect logic. Why making it so obvious since five minutes before it actually happens??
ii. The copied scenes from Godfather were pretty obvious.
iii. The buildup to Karan(Ajay) vs Arjun(Ranbir) fight when Krishna(Nana) tells Arjun to shoot Karan even when he's not armed. Does it not smell like Mahabharata too??

5. Oh!! And while writing the blog it dawned on me. It's a modern day Mahabharata. Is it not??
The helpless king of Hastinapur(the one who is down on bed with paralysis) watches as his son Duryodhana(Manoj Vajpayee) tries to take control. Duryodhana conveniently finds his Karn(Ajay) who infact is the son of their sarathi(driver). Karn demolishes Pandavas. But is finally killed by Arjun(Ranbir) who is being advised by Krishna(Nana). And of course!! Kunti(Ranbir's mother) tries to convince Karn to switch sides but he doesn't because of his friendship and loyalty to Duryodhana. Infact even the way Karn was found on the banks of a river is copied here too.

I think I should sleep now. I can go on and on about the weaknesses in the story, because there was no dearth. And this includes acting too. Kat: I never expected acting from her. Ranbir's mother: never convincing. Manoj Vajpayee: Mostly drunk. And for some reasons he thought that keeping his eyebrows way up would show his attitude.
Ah! I almost started again... Nyways... Gud Night...