Raavan

...an overwhelming film. At times a tad bit overproduced, the film is an onslaught of brilliant use of technology on the viewer's senses -- stunning cinematography, the fluidity of the camera, quick edits, loud soaring music, with the actors thrown into wild nature.

Raavan falls for Sita (and vice versa) in an intriguingly idiosyncratic take on the Ramayana – if you can get past the lead performances, that is.

...a little more attention to the narrative was desperately needed in Raavan.

Enjoy this very different take on the story everyone knows. After all, if not offering a special perspective, what use is an adaptation? Don’t miss it.

Mani succeeds in his own inimitable way. His team’s painstaking hard work shows in every frame of the film and his actors help him raise the film’s bar.

...constantly seeks out the dark recesses in its characters' heart. It does fall short in some of its emotional moments. But who said that a film about such fatally flawed people had to be picture-perfect?

...so we get Mani Ratnam's politics. What we don't get is his art. This is perhaps his most beautiful film--and that's saying a lot for someone who makes such an effort to frame his scenes. But it is also one of his weakest central characterisations.

It's so confusing when seriousness is dealt with song and dance. Wish the film was advertised as modern Ram Leela performed in a tribal theater. That expectation would have prepped me to deal with the over-dramatization a lot better.

...the narrative is choppier than the monsoon sea, frequently disjointed, terribly repetitive...

...is highly flawed but packs in quite a few punches that justify the name helming it. Sadly, the meatier of these punches from an overall cinematic appeal standpoint, are too little and too late by the time they come in.

Mani Ratnam’s modern adaptation of Hindu mythological epic Ramayana with a twist, is a film made with good intention, beautiful music and mind blowing cinematography but unfortunately lacking everything else!

It's profoundly sad to see a filmmaker of Ratnam's calibre reduced to this.

...deeply flawed film with many saving graces.

The film is definitely a downer by the high standards of Mani Ratnam’s earlier master pieces.

Mani Ratnam's re-telling of the epic attempts a classic subversion, with seriously mixed results. 'Raavan' is more miss than hit.

The story just doesn't engage you and the song placements make matters worse. There are just too many loopholes that make the narrative fall flat.

Fails to offer a persuasive portrayal of individuals and relationships, the largely ineffective acting making a further hash of an already tenuous narrative.

...a king-sized disappointment, in terms of content.

This is that severely unexpected self-indulgence in a career of close to three decades, which digs out nothing but his own cinematic cliches.

...a confusing watch. For one, the script is filled with several flaws. Two, the antagonist is portrayed as a protagonist, due to which you neither hate him nor like him. Three, some of the events that take place in the film are hard to digest...

...painfully dull and fails to engage at any level.

Not everyone can deliver a hit every time. But you don't really expect trash from a director of the class of Mani Ratnam.