The ballad of Ravannan…

On their way to Panchavati,
Perched on a big tree,
Jatayu, the giant vulture,
They met this huge figure.
“Sita I shall look after,
When alone you leave her
For the hunt you go for, ”
The vulture made a voluntary offer.

A predatory bird, perched on the canoe that Ragini sits in looks around the swirling muddy river. It then swoops, screeching in its flight towards Veera who is on a bigger reed boat, casting a sinister apparition on the brown waters. Alas, this Jatayu is the harbinger of Ragini’s fate to come, playing the role of a herald and not a protector. But, there was no need for Jatayu to protect Raagini from the clutches of Veera for Veera was Raginis’ protector in her battle for dharma.

Veera (Veeraiya) could well be modeled more after the notorious sandal wood smuggler Veerapan, living in deep jungles, embodied in his rustic tribal ways and playing Robinhood to his community. Dressed in shades of grey and black, he represents the darker side in all of us. But hues of black during the course of this epic become grey and even flirt with dazzling white more than just once. Veera is not one who allows himself to impose his dark, malevolent self on Ragini even if he wished he would. Through his darkness he allows light to fall on his gory ways. Veera is consistent with the larger world; he is as erratic in his emotions. He is a mystery only under the undulating spell of Ragini. He shakes off every whim that emerges in him in rapid succession when it comes to the soulful Ragini and reveals a mysterious visage. Veera is the “other” classical dancer of this love ballad, adorning himself with a flurry of emotions or Shringaram ( decorations ) that range from the initial “ Bheebatsa ( disgust ) to Rowdram ( violence ) to Veeram ( valor ) to Adbhuta ( wonder ) to Hasya ( joy ) to Karuna ( kindness ) to bhayanaka” ( fear ) to Shantham ( peace ). These are the nine “rasas” Veera conveys (almost in the same order). The tenth in my opinion is “guhya “(mystery), for in Veera remained a mystery till the end, was it love or wonder (respect) for this Sita. (Recall how different men from Veera’s tribe sit in front of a questioning Dev and summarize these emotions )

Ragini is an epitomizing beauty. She is feisty, spirited like the Scarlett ‘O Hara of Georgia, effusive with unsurpassable determination. Even if Veera pleads with himself to despise her, her soulful radiance traps him like a spider in a silver web. In this ballad of Raavanan, every character digresses from the epical conformity of goodness and evil in equal measure, thereby safely allowing the viewer to empathize with both goodness and evil in an unequivocal fashion. But, in this ballad of love and hate, goodness triumphs over evil in a physical sense yet begs to restrain this judgment on a metaphysical plane. Ragini as some rightfully state, is the soul of the movie. She is quite literally the same bridge ( Ram Sethu )that suspends in the climax scene connecting two different rugged terrains over which both the victor and vanquished have the final duel. Interestingly, Ragini acts as the cross over for both Dev and Veera. I do not believe Ragini loved Veera, she remains in awe his vulnerability and sympathizes partly with his cause.

Raagini’s husband Dev is seen as an able man, a deliverer from evil. He is as “fair” as Ragini and belongs to the upper echelons of society unlike Veera. He is the watch guard and a protector of his environs. His call of duty for his society outweighs his obligations as a dutiful husband. He remains affront with his ambitions of being an able officer and adamant in catching the out-law. His choice looms ominously until the very end, feigning to doubt the integrity of the chaste wife who is ignorant of his manipulation. Via his conniving ways, he channels the physical end of Veera. Dev is the upholder of “dharma” and operates within his own pre defined dharmic code of conduct. He is not compassionate like the Ram who stopped to stroke a meek squirrel at Rameshwaram but this Dev is one who twists an armless victim of Veera and instigates more pain.

Gnanaprakasam ( the forest ranger ) is the mediator between Dev and Veera and cautions one from the other. He divagates entirely from any semblance of loyalty. He is an opportunist and is instrumental in the fruition of the final war between Veera and Dev. Quite pointless to compare this character to Hanuman besides his tree jumping antics and informing Raagini of Dev’s intentions. Vennila, the younger sister to Veera is the instigator for Veera’s kidnapping of Ragini.

The above is my interpretation of Rathnam’s characters. At this point I would like to think that I was able to formulate my opinion on these characters without any knowledge of what portions have been edited. The story had its desired ebb and flow craftily handled by the master Director. For me, it was more important to understand each of these characters the way I wished to. I am given to believe that this was the director’s motive as well or I may be entirely off the mark here. Even if I am off the mark in understanding what the Director wished to convey, I am thoroughly gratified with this Raavanan experience in allowing us to get a peek into Rathnam’s unconventional thinking. I did not prefer the character of Dev over Veera or vice versa at any point of time; I only digested their subtle emotions and tried to relate it to our every day way of life. It is easy for us to be as flippant as either Dev or Veera depending on our needs and circumstances, allowing shades of grey to stay somewhere in this comfortable bourgeois area.

Rathnam is a genius for allowing us to think beyond realms of our limited imaginations. If there are two other areas which remain splendiferous, they are Santosh Sivan’s cinematography and Vikram’s performance.

The camera has not only captured the colors of the deep, wet jungles but also the shades of human emotions scintillatingly. I enjoyed trying to understand the colors that adorned Ragini and what they each symbolized. Ragini emerges in orange (bordering towards saffron) when she is in captivity announcing her renunciation into Veera’s jungles. Raagini is then seen in black at the time that she has a duel with Veera near the rugged cliffs during one of her attempts to escape. This duel is unintentionally seductive and in more ways than one borders on eroticism, the dark (black) colors play with the mood here. Veera’s eyes convey a lot in this scene and there is a point where Ragini appears to be captivated by those eyes for a few seconds. A bit later, Ragini then is seen in shades of red at the time when celebrations are galore in the tribal camp, by this time she has had a better understanding of Veera and almost appears quite participative in the festivities as she watches the proceedings calmly. It is right at the very end that she is in white implying her chastity and allowing herself to be stained by the red of Veera’s death. If not for Santosh Sivan’s master craftsmanship it would have been quite difficult to notice the subtle play of these colors. On another note, I lament not seeing the entire reclining Vishnu that was erected on the sets and cannot understand why only the damaged Vishnu was used.

Vikram is outstanding. His penchant for perfection is obvious in his every move. From his stained teeth (reminded me of Pithamagan) to his outlandish demeanor as a tribal rebel, he has gotten into the skin of this role. He has wonderfully portrayed a myriad of emotions and quite clearly communicates this to the viewer, I do not think there is any confusion with his characterization. Vikram has raised the bar with this performance in Tamil cinema. I can confidently state he sits almost alongside to Kamal Haasan at this time. His eccentricity was at par with Kamal’s own eccentric behavior in “ Guna” ,after all Ragini was Abirami in a subtle way.

Aishwarya is very good, far removed from “histrionics” and convincing. Her rendition of classical dance is quite exquisite, reminded me of Waheeda Rehman in Guide in certain portions. Rathnam could not have found a more beautiful Sita, unless he did this movie ten years back and cast Shobana in it. Rathnam has completely capitalized on Aishwarya’s beauty and the camera has allowed for it in numerous ways. Her eyes tell their own story. My regret is the usage of eye make up for a few shots acting as a visual glitch when she is in captivity. If there is one actor who requires zero eye make up, she is the one. Aishwarya and Prithvi Raj share a splendid chemistry on screen. These are two very good looking actors. A couple in synchronization yet not adequately shown together. Prithvi Raj plays Dev aptly and oozes with masculine appeal. Priya Mani as Vennila, is strong with her performance without going over the edge. Prabhu and Karthik are effective and bring about the much needed lightness in certain scenes. Prabhu’s heaviness actually provides the right dose of lightness and so does Karthik’s banter. Good to see Karthik and Prabhu back in a Rathnam venture after such a long hiatus.

In conclusion, this movie highlights Rathnam’s superior movie making skills. Even if this movie does not translate into a BO miracle, I wish Rathnam continues to juice his creativity with movies such as this. It is important for an outstanding movie maker to not compromise on his innate desires. Rathnam is an artist whose brush strokes are not just inimitable but remain to be cherished for years to come.

My other thoughts on Raavan a month back – https://sharmilasays.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/is-there-a-raavan/