Raavanan

Raavanan-the modern Ramayana cinematic interpretation from Mani Ratnam, is about trying to tell the other side of the story, from the perspective of Raavanan, the antagonist according to the Hindu mythology.Selective nods to Ramayana are to be seen inthe movie. Like when Sita gets kidnapped it’s watched over by a garuda-hawk, the reference to the number 14, couplet reciting forest guard Hanuman and the conflict instigator by the side of Ram- the humiliation of Raavanan’s sister, although with a twist.

Tamil films are always over the top and Mani Ratnam’s films bring Tamil cinema to a level of believability with not as much high decibel actions as others. Raavanan that ways will be liked by the Tamil audience. I have seen both versions of the bilingual-Raavan and Raavanan and I watched it with my cousin who understands Tamil better than me. And Raavanan is better value for your money..because I think that Tamil is the language that the film was envisioned and dreamed in .In Hindi ..it just looses out in translation and secondly Vikram as Raavanan is way better than Abhishek Bachchan in Raavan.

This film is not plot driven..so much has been said about the plot being a modern interpretation that it those who entered knew it is going to be – ravaayana. Only we were looking for how the narration has been altered to tell the story of the Raavan who has always been painted as the beast .But most of the story runs parallel to the original except that Ram is not as good as we are told to be and he too is corruptible.Though there is just one surprise in the film towards the end …

In a Mani Ratnam film, the locales are a given and guaranteed treat and he prefers real life locations without artificial lighting . The shots of the Athirappilly waterfalls, with its triple thread falls, also seen previously in Dil Se and Guru are noteworthy. There are visually stunning images , reel after reel. I liked Raavanan ,but I have issues regarding its editing . It is just not right with its cuts and editing gets very jerky .Watch Raavanan ,even if with subtitles, that is a better option.

There are huge plot holes that just can’t be ignored .If you prefer a funny review highlighting the plot holes,follow this link. http://www.thevigilidiot.com/2010/06/22/raavan/

Hyperlink cinema - part I

Hyperlink cinema, the term itself sounds interesting; because it combines something we associate with websites to cinema.

Hyperlink is a genre of cinema in which the multi-threaded storylines tell different tales and the narrative cross and connect at unexpected points. These films are not multimedia and do not have actual hyperlinks, but are multilinear in a more metaphorical sense.

Playing with time and characters' personal history, interwoven storylines between multiple characters, jumping between the beginning and end (flashbacks and flashforwards) are its prime elements, as illustrated brilliantly in Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu's films Amores Perros(2000), 21 grams(2003), and Babel(2006).

Hyperlink cinema are films where the characters or action reside in separate stories, but a connection or influence between those disparate stories is slowly revealed to the audience. The narration is often non linear with no specific timeline and events may be portrayed out of chronological order.

Hyperlink cinema is a term coined by author Alissa Quart, who used the term in her review of the film ‘Happy Endings ’(2005) which was used later by noted critic Roger Ebert when reviewing ‘Syriana’, also in 2005.

There's a growing influence of the world wide web and multitasking in the genre, where captions act as footnotes and splitscreens ,as elements of hyperlink cinema. Quart also
considers the television series '24'and Alan Rudolph's film Welcome to L.A. (1976) as early prototypes. Crash (2004) which beat Brokeback Mountain to the Oscars for best film, is an example of the genre, as are Robert Altman's The Player (1992), Steven Sodenberg's Traffic (2000), City of God (2002),Love Actually (2003) and Syriana (2005).

Mani Ratnam's underrated gem ,Yuva (2004) is a genuine addition from India ,so is its Tamil version Aayitha Ezuthu(he shot them back to back) ,where 3 stories ran parallelly until they all merged at one point in the movie and then there's a racy dash to the climax. Love Actually (2003) written and directed by Richard Cutris had seven stories that are fleetingly connected, and by the end seamlessly blend into each other resulting in an immensely watchable flick. Nikhil Advani tried to adopt the idea in Salaam-e-Ishq (2007) but it was a massive downer as the stories seemed too contrived. Earlier, last month we had Love sex aur Dhokha with its 3 vaguely connected stories, but there, the focus was on shooting it if it all was found footage.


To continue..…..