RAAVAN : Mani Ratnam's Magnum Opus

RAAVAN : Mani Ratnam's Magnum Opus

Ravan - Did, such a man ever exist? Was he just a myth? Does he live even today?

What is the line that divides Good from Evil? Are Ten Heads better then one? Is there a Ram inside Raavan and a Raavan Inside each of us?

Cast and Crew

Mani Ratnam has approached the story from the perspective of Veera (RAAVAN).

Written and directed by Mani Ratnam, it stars Abhishek Bachchan, ( as Beera) Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ( as Ragini) and Vikram (as Dev) in the lead roles.

While Govinda, Ravi Kishan, Nikhil Dwivedi, Tejaswini Kolhapure and Priyamani play key supporting roles.

Story

Dev falls in love with Ragini, a spunky classical dancer. They get married and he takes up his new post in Lal Maati, a small town in northern India.

A town where the word of law is not of the police but Beera, a tribal who has, over the years, shifted the power equation of the place from the ruling to the have- nots of the area.

Story

Dev knows, that the key to bringing order to any place is to vanquish the big fish; in this case- Beera.

In one stroke Dev manages to rip open Beera's world, and set in motion a chain of events which will claim lives, change fortunes.

Beera, injured but enraged hits back starting a battle that draws Dev, Beera and Ragini into the jungle.

Story

The jungle is dense, confusing, and scary and becomes the battleground. And in this journey they must comfort their own truth.

A journey which will test their beliefs, convictions and emotions. The forest is a battleground for war between good and evil, between Dev, and Beera, between Ram and Raavan.

Preview

But when the lines dividing good and evil are blurring fast whose side will you take.

When hate turns to love and the good start' looking evil, which side will you battle for? Love is a battle that nobody wins but everyone must fight. Even Raaven!

Two Versions

Raavan has been simultaneously made in Tamil as RAAVANAN with a slightly different cast.

Vikram, who plays Dev in Hindi version, plays Veera, a Naxalite leader (Ravana) in Tamil version, whereas Prithviraj plays a Police officer.

Music and Release

Aishwarya Rai is in both the versions. The film is also dubbed into Telugu and other regional languages.

The music and lyrics of the movie are done by Oscar winners A. R. Rahman & Gulzar.

The audio rights are with T- Series. RAAVAN, which hits the screens in June 2010, is jointly distributed by Madras Talkies and Big Pictures.