Raavan
Encyclopedia
Raavan is a 2010 Hindi film directed, written and produced by Mani Ratnam
. It stars Abhishek Bachchan
, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram in the lead roles while Govinda
, Ravi Kishan
, Nikhil Dwivedi
, Tejaswini Kolhapure
and Priyamani
feature in key supporting roles. It was simultaneously released in Tamil
as Raavanan with a slightly different cast, which would also be dubbed into Telugu
and other regional languages. The film's score and soundtrack
is composed by A. R. Rahman
. The film was released on 18 June 2010. The film's premiere was held in London on 16 June 2010.
) a bandit jumping off a cliff into the water. His gang is busy distracting the police. Police vehicles are set ablaze. Ragini Sharma (Aishwarya Rai
), on a boating trip, is kidnapped by Beera. Dev Pratap Sharma (Vikram), her husband and a superintendent of police, is informed.
A brief montage of sorts showcases the story of Beera. He is seen as a local hero, a sort of Robin Hood- who runs a parallel govt, with his brothers - Mangal (Ravi Kishan
) and Hari (Ajay Gehi). Though considered a terrorist by the local police, Beera is respected by the villagers. He kidnaps Ragini hoping to avenge the death of his sister Jamuni (Priyamani
). Dev and his team enter the forests with the aid of Sanjeevani Kumar (Govinda
), a forest guard. Despite searching deep in the forests, Dev is unable to hunt down Beera.
Beera eventually tells Ragini the story of his sister's death; Dev had led an encounter against Beera during Jamuni's wedding. Dev's shot grazed Beera in the neck. Beera escaped, but the police captured and serially raped Jamuni, when she refused to reveal Beera's whereabouts. Beera returns home to find Jamuni distraught and traumatized. The next day, she commits suicide by drowning in a nearby well.
Unhappy that his brother is preparing for war, Hari convinces Beera to allow Hari to offer a truce to Dev. Dev initially seems to agree, but when Hari comes out in the open, Dev shoots him to death. Beera and Mangal are enraged and attack Dev's camp and wipe it out. A final confrontation between Beera and Dev takes place on a rickety bridge, where Beera prevents Dev from falling to his death. Dev later finds Ragini bound and tied, with Beera leaving her.
However, while riding a train back to their hometown, Dev accuses Ragini of infidelity and informs her that it was Beera who told him so. Furious, Ragini leaves Dev to meet Beera through Mangal. When she does, she asks him what Beera had told Dev. Beera replies that he had said, he protected Ragini for all the fourteen days and not anything else. They quickly realize Dev lied, hoping Ragini would lead him to his hideout. Dev appears with a police team and confront the duo. Ragini tries to save Beera, but he pushes her out of the line of fire. He is shot multiple times. Ragini's true feelings comes to surface when she tries to save Beera with all her might. Content that Ragini too has feelings for him, Beera falls off the cliff to his death with a smile.
, Karnataka
at the end of October 2008. During filming, Mani Ratnam became ill which delayed the filming for a few months in 2009. However, the film began its last schedule in August 2009. The film finished filming and went into post production by October 2009. Manikandan was hired as the film's DOP or cinematographer, however he walked out in May 2009 and was replaced by Santosh Sivan
.
This film have numerous action scenes and stunts performed by the actors. The stunts are directed by Mani Ratnam
and are choreographed by Peter Hein
, who received Filmfare action award for the Hindi version of Ghajini
and Anniyan
. The Kerala martial art Kalarippayattu
is also featured in the film. Dancer Astad Deboo choreographed a passionate chase scene and tandav
dance between Abhishek and Aishwarya for the film. Indian fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee
designed Aishwarya Rai's costumes in the film.
Raavan has been shot in numerous locations around India including the forests of Karnataka
(Tumkur), Kerala
(Athirappilly Falls
), Ooty, Jhansi
, Kolkata
, Mahabaleshwar
and in the Malshej Ghats in Maharashtra
.
rated the film 4/5 and said "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" Rajeev Masand
of IBN
gave the film 1.5/5 and said, "Despite some eye-watering camerawork and a stunning action piece in the film's climax, the film -- especially its first half -- is a carelessly edited mess of long scenes that make little sense when strung together". Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL rated it 2.5/5 and stated " Raavan is more a choreographed musical-cum-psychological drama but without proper character backing. What makes the movie worth watching is the peaks in the second half, of course apart from the imagery." Taran Adarsh
of Bollywood Hungama
rated it 1.5/5 and said, "On the whole, Raavan is a king-sized disappointment, in terms of content". Sukanya Venkatraghavan of Filmfare
rated the film 3/5 and said, "Raavan has its moments but it lacks depth. The first half is fairly riveting but the second half slowly slips into a coma". Nikhat Kazmi
of Times of India rated it favourably at 3.5/5 saying, "There are enough punches in the second half to keep the momentum going, but by and large, the film scores mostly on art and aesthete". Raja Sen of Rediff rated it 2/5 and said, "Raavan truly and tragically fails us is in taking one of our greatest epics, and making it unforgivably boring". Parimal Rohit of Buzzine Bollywood said, "Raavan is ultimately a clever film, as it pushed the envelope on how one goes about defining who is good and who is evil."
Among U.S. and U.K. film critics sampled on the Rotten Tomatoes
aggregate site, Raavan rated 64%, with eleven reviews. Cath Clarke of The Guardian
gave the film a rating of 2/5 and found it sexist, while New York Post
critic Lou Lumenick wrote, "If you're not a fan of Bollywood movies — which have long resisted crossover attempts in this country despite the success of hybrids such as Slumdog Millionaire — Mani Ratnam's action melodrama Raavan probably isn't going to make a convert out of you." However, Frank Lovece
of Film Journal International
found it a "cracklingly stylish, suspenseful psychological drama" with "a visual sense that evokes David Fincher
at his darkest", and admired the dance numbers, "one taking place somewhat naturalistically
at a wedding, the other essentially a stunning war dance
."
The New York Times
and the Los Angeles Times
likewise gave it positive reviews: Rachel Saltz of the former made it a Times "Critic's Pick" and lauded Ratnam as "a talented visual storyteller who directs action crisply and fills the screen with striking images" including "an eye-popping climactic battle", while Kevin Thomas of the latter said the film "is replete with dizzying camerawork, myriad complications, violent mayhem, broad humor, [the] usual musical interludes, a cliffhanging climactic confrontation and a finish that strikes a note of poignancy."
, with the Hindi version earning Rs
60 million (Rs 6 crore) on its opening day. and 23.83 crore through its first week. In North America
, Raavan opened in 120 theaters and ranked #15 on the domestic weekend box office chart with $482,760. As of June 24, it had collected $573,314 in this market. The film was declared a flop by box office India.
with lyrics penned by Gulzar
. It features six songs and an additional song that was performed by Rahman at the audio launch. It was released on 24 April 2010 by T-Series.
Won
Nominated
2011 Zee Cine Awards
Nominated
Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...
. It stars Abhishek Bachchan
Abhishek Bachchan
Abhishek Bachchan is an Indian actor and producer. He is the son of Indian actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and is married to actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai....
, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram in the lead roles while Govinda
Govinda
' and ' are names of Krishna, referring to his youthful occupation as a cowherd. He is regarded as the Supreme Godhead in the Vaishnava tradition and also by much of the pan-Hindu tradition...
, Ravi Kishan
Ravi Kishan
Ravi Kishan is an Indian film actor and television personality, who works in Hindi cinema and Bhojpuri cinema. In 2006, he participated in Bigg Boss, the Indian version of Big Brother.-Early life:...
, Nikhil Dwivedi
Nikhil Dwivedi
Nikhil Dwivedi is a Hindi film actor. He has till date three movie releases to his name, making his debut with My Name is Anthony Gonsalves in 2008 that also saw him being nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut.-Early Life:...
, Tejaswini Kolhapure
Tejaswini Kolhapure
Tejaswini Kolhapure is an Indian film actress, daughter of renowned classic singer pt. Pandharinath Kolhapure, and the sister of popular Bollywood actress Padmini Kolhapure...
and Priyamani
Priyamani
Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer, better known by her stage name Priyamani is an Indian film actress and model who has appeared in several Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films...
feature in key supporting roles. It was simultaneously released in Tamil
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
as Raavanan with a slightly different cast, which would also be dubbed into Telugu
Telugu cinema
The Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, also referred to as Telugu Cinema or Tollywood, is the Telugu film industry in India. The Telugu language film industry is known for being one of the three largest in terms of no.of films produced yearly in India. The Prasads IMAX theatre in Hyderabad is one of the...
and other regional languages. The film's score and soundtrack
Raavan (soundtrack)
Raavan is the soundtrack to the 2010 film Raavan, directed by Mani Ratnam. It was released on April 24, 2010 by the label T-Series in India and internationally. The songs were composed by A. R. Rahman with lyrics penned Gulzar...
is composed by A. R. Rahman
A. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
. The film was released on 18 June 2010. The film's premiere was held in London on 16 June 2010.
Plot
The film opens with shots showing Beera Munda (Abhishek BachchanAbhishek Bachchan
Abhishek Bachchan is an Indian actor and producer. He is the son of Indian actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and is married to actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai....
) a bandit jumping off a cliff into the water. His gang is busy distracting the police. Police vehicles are set ablaze. Ragini Sharma (Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian film actress. She worked as a model before starting her acting career, and ultimately won the Miss World pageant in 1994...
), on a boating trip, is kidnapped by Beera. Dev Pratap Sharma (Vikram), her husband and a superintendent of police, is informed.
A brief montage of sorts showcases the story of Beera. He is seen as a local hero, a sort of Robin Hood- who runs a parallel govt, with his brothers - Mangal (Ravi Kishan
Ravi Kishan
Ravi Kishan is an Indian film actor and television personality, who works in Hindi cinema and Bhojpuri cinema. In 2006, he participated in Bigg Boss, the Indian version of Big Brother.-Early life:...
) and Hari (Ajay Gehi). Though considered a terrorist by the local police, Beera is respected by the villagers. He kidnaps Ragini hoping to avenge the death of his sister Jamuni (Priyamani
Priyamani
Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer, better known by her stage name Priyamani is an Indian film actress and model who has appeared in several Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films...
). Dev and his team enter the forests with the aid of Sanjeevani Kumar (Govinda
Govinda (actor)
Govinda is a Filmfare award-winning Indian actor and politician. He has appeared in over 120 Hindi language films. At the start of his career, his acting and dancing skills gained him widespread attention among film viewers. He later gained worldwide fame as a Bollywood icon through comedy films...
), a forest guard. Despite searching deep in the forests, Dev is unable to hunt down Beera.
Beera eventually tells Ragini the story of his sister's death; Dev had led an encounter against Beera during Jamuni's wedding. Dev's shot grazed Beera in the neck. Beera escaped, but the police captured and serially raped Jamuni, when she refused to reveal Beera's whereabouts. Beera returns home to find Jamuni distraught and traumatized. The next day, she commits suicide by drowning in a nearby well.
Unhappy that his brother is preparing for war, Hari convinces Beera to allow Hari to offer a truce to Dev. Dev initially seems to agree, but when Hari comes out in the open, Dev shoots him to death. Beera and Mangal are enraged and attack Dev's camp and wipe it out. A final confrontation between Beera and Dev takes place on a rickety bridge, where Beera prevents Dev from falling to his death. Dev later finds Ragini bound and tied, with Beera leaving her.
However, while riding a train back to their hometown, Dev accuses Ragini of infidelity and informs her that it was Beera who told him so. Furious, Ragini leaves Dev to meet Beera through Mangal. When she does, she asks him what Beera had told Dev. Beera replies that he had said, he protected Ragini for all the fourteen days and not anything else. They quickly realize Dev lied, hoping Ragini would lead him to his hideout. Dev appears with a police team and confront the duo. Ragini tries to save Beera, but he pushes her out of the line of fire. He is shot multiple times. Ragini's true feelings comes to surface when she tries to save Beera with all her might. Content that Ragini too has feelings for him, Beera falls off the cliff to his death with a smile.
Cast
- Abhishek BachchanAbhishek BachchanAbhishek Bachchan is an Indian actor and producer. He is the son of Indian actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and is married to actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai....
as Beera Munda - Aishwarya RaiAishwarya RaiAishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian film actress. She worked as a model before starting her acting career, and ultimately won the Miss World pageant in 1994...
as Ragini Sharma - Vikram as Dev Pratap Sharma
- GovindaGovinda (actor)Govinda is a Filmfare award-winning Indian actor and politician. He has appeared in over 120 Hindi language films. At the start of his career, his acting and dancing skills gained him widespread attention among film viewers. He later gained worldwide fame as a Bollywood icon through comedy films...
as Sanjeevani Kumar - Ravi KishanRavi KishanRavi Kishan is an Indian film actor and television personality, who works in Hindi cinema and Bhojpuri cinema. In 2006, he participated in Bigg Boss, the Indian version of Big Brother.-Early life:...
as Mangal - PriyamaniPriyamaniPriya Vasudev Mani Iyer, better known by her stage name Priyamani is an Indian film actress and model who has appeared in several Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films...
as Jamuni - Nikhil DwivediNikhil DwivediNikhil Dwivedi is a Hindi film actor. He has till date three movie releases to his name, making his debut with My Name is Anthony Gonsalves in 2008 that also saw him being nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut.-Early Life:...
as Inspector Hemant - Ajay Gehi as Hari
Production
Shooting began in the southern part of TumkurTumkur
Tumkur is one of the busiest industrial towns located in the state of Karnataka. Since 28 August 2010, Tumkur has been accorded the status of a Corporation city. It is situated at a distance of 70 kilometers north west of the city of Bangalore along National Highway 4...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
at the end of October 2008. During filming, Mani Ratnam became ill which delayed the filming for a few months in 2009. However, the film began its last schedule in August 2009. The film finished filming and went into post production by October 2009. Manikandan was hired as the film's DOP or cinematographer, however he walked out in May 2009 and was replaced by Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan is an Indian cinematographer, film director, and producer who has worked in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Hindi cinema....
.
This film have numerous action scenes and stunts performed by the actors. The stunts are directed by Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...
and are choreographed by Peter Hein
Peter Hein
Peter Hein is a Stunt director, action director, action co-ordinator who did his job for many South Indian Motion Pictures. He was born in Chennai to Vietnamese immigrants and settled down in Chennai. He started his career as Extra Stunt boy, Assistant fight master for many number of Telugu and...
, who received Filmfare action award for the Hindi version of Ghajini
Ghajini (2008 film)
Ghajini is a 2008 Indian Hindi action film written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss and produced by Tagore Madhu and Madhu Mantena. It is a remake of Murugadoss's own 2005 Tamil film Ghajini starring Surya Sivakumar in the lead role. The film stars Aamir Khan, Asin Thottumkal and Jiah Khan in lead...
and Anniyan
Anniyan
Anniyan is a 2005 Tamil psychological thriller film directed by S. Shankar. The film stars Vikram, Sadha, Prakash Raj, and Vivek, while featuring background score and soundtrack composed by Harris Jayaraj. The film was released worldwide on 10 June 2005....
. The Kerala martial art Kalarippayattu
Kalarippayattu
Kalaripayattu is a southern Indian martial art originating in Tamil Nadu but also practiced in contiguous parts of Kerala and Karnataka.Kalari payat includes strikes, kicks, grappling, preset forms, weaponry and healing methods...
is also featured in the film. Dancer Astad Deboo choreographed a passionate chase scene and tandav
Tandava
' or ', the divine art form, is a dance performed by the god Shiva, who is revered by Hindus. According to Hindu mythology, Shiva’s Tandava is a vigorous dance that is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution...
dance between Abhishek and Aishwarya for the film. Indian fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee
Sabyasachi Mukherjee
Sabyasachi Mukherjee is an Indian fashion designer. He sells under his label, 'Sabyasachi', since 1999. He has also designed for a few Bollywood films -Early life:...
designed Aishwarya Rai's costumes in the film.
Raavan has been shot in numerous locations around India including the forests of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
(Tumkur), Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
(Athirappilly Falls
Athirappilly Falls
Athirappilly Falls is situated in Athirappilly panchayath in Thrissur district of Kerala, on the southwest coast of India. Located on the west-flowing Chalakudy River near the Vazhachal Forest Division and the Sholayar ranges, this 24-metre waterfall and the nearby Vazhachal Falls are popular...
), Ooty, Jhansi
Jhansi
Jhansi Hindi:झाँसी, , Marathi: झाशी, is a historical city of India. Jhansi is the administrative headquarters of Jhansi District and Jhansi Division. The original walled city grew up around its stone fort, which crowns a neighboring rock. This district is on the bank of river Betwa.The National...
, Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, Mahabaleshwar
Mahabaleshwar
Mahabaleshwar is a city and a municipal council in Satara district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is a hill station located in the Western Ghats range. With one of the few evergreen forests of the world, it served as the summer capital of Bombay province during the British Raj.-Geography...
and in the Malshej Ghats in Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
.
Critical response
Among Indian film critics on the review-aggregation website ReviewGang, the film scored 4.5/10 based on 12 reviews. Baradwaj Rangan of The New Indian ExpressThe New Indian Express
The New Indian Express is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as the Indian Express, under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu. In 1991, following the death of the then owner Ramnath Goenka, the Goenka...
rated the film 4/5 and said "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" Rajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand is an Indian film critic and entertainment reporter for CNN-IBN. Masand started his career as an entertainment correspondent at the young age of 16...
of IBN
IBN
IBN or ibn may refer to:In general* ibn, patronymic in Arabic personal names * IBN code page , a Nordic language code page under MS-DOS...
gave the film 1.5/5 and said, "Despite some eye-watering camerawork and a stunning action piece in the film's climax, the film -- especially its first half -- is a carelessly edited mess of long scenes that make little sense when strung together". Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL rated it 2.5/5 and stated " Raavan is more a choreographed musical-cum-psychological drama but without proper character backing. What makes the movie worth watching is the peaks in the second half, of course apart from the imagery." Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh is an Indian film critic, journalist, editor and film trade analyst. He is also a former producer and screenwriter. He is the son of film director and producer, B.K. Adarsh....
of Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama is a leading Bollywood entertainment website, owned by hungama.com....
rated it 1.5/5 and said, "On the whole, Raavan is a king-sized disappointment, in terms of content". Sukanya Venkatraghavan of Filmfare
Filmfare
Filmfare is an English-language tabloid-sized magazine about Indian cinema. Published by The Times Group, India's largest media services conglomerate, in Mumbai , it highlights the doings of the Bollywood film scene...
rated the film 3/5 and said, "Raavan has its moments but it lacks depth. The first half is fairly riveting but the second half slowly slips into a coma". Nikhat Kazmi
Nikhat Kazmi
Nikhat Kazmi is a senior correspondent and well-known film critic from India, who has been writing for The Times of India, since 1987.-Books:* If Shakespeare was a gun: a play. Writers Workshop, 1984....
of Times of India rated it favourably at 3.5/5 saying, "There are enough punches in the second half to keep the momentum going, but by and large, the film scores mostly on art and aesthete". Raja Sen of Rediff rated it 2/5 and said, "Raavan truly and tragically fails us is in taking one of our greatest epics, and making it unforgivably boring". Parimal Rohit of Buzzine Bollywood said, "Raavan is ultimately a clever film, as it pushed the envelope on how one goes about defining who is good and who is evil."
Among U.S. and U.K. film critics sampled on the Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
aggregate site, Raavan rated 64%, with eleven reviews. Cath Clarke of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
gave the film a rating of 2/5 and found it sexist, while New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
critic Lou Lumenick wrote, "If you're not a fan of Bollywood movies — which have long resisted crossover attempts in this country despite the success of hybrids such as Slumdog Millionaire — Mani Ratnam's action melodrama Raavan probably isn't going to make a convert out of you." However, Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece is an American journalist, author, comedy performer and comic book writer. He was additionally one of the first professional Web journalists, becoming an editor of a Silicon Alley start-up in 1996....
of Film Journal International
Film Journal International
Film Journal International is a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It is a sister publication of Adweek, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and other periodicals....
found it a "cracklingly stylish, suspenseful psychological drama" with "a visual sense that evokes David Fincher
David Fincher
David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...
at his darkest", and admired the dance numbers, "one taking place somewhat naturalistically
Naturalism
Naturalism is any of several philosophical stances wherein all phenomena or hypotheses, commonly labeled as supernatural, are either false or not inherently different from natural phenomena or hypotheses.Naturalism may also refer to:-In the arts:...
at a wedding, the other essentially a stunning war dance
War dance
A war dance is a dance involving mock combat, usually in reference to tribal warrior societies where such dances were performed as a ritual connected with endemic warfare....
."
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
likewise gave it positive reviews: Rachel Saltz of the former made it a Times "Critic's Pick" and lauded Ratnam as "a talented visual storyteller who directs action crisply and fills the screen with striking images" including "an eye-popping climactic battle", while Kevin Thomas of the latter said the film "is replete with dizzying camerawork, myriad complications, violent mayhem, broad humor, [the] usual musical interludes, a cliffhanging climactic confrontation and a finish that strikes a note of poignancy."
Box office
Raavan opened "below expectations" at the Indian box officeBox office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
, with the Hindi version earning Rs
Rupee
The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...
60 million (Rs 6 crore) on its opening day. and 23.83 crore through its first week. In North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Raavan opened in 120 theaters and ranked #15 on the domestic weekend box office chart with $482,760. As of June 24, it had collected $573,314 in this market. The film was declared a flop by box office India.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack for the film is composed by A. R. RahmanA. R. Rahman
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and philanthropist. Described as the world's most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and...
with lyrics penned by Gulzar
Gulzar (lyricist)
Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
. It features six songs and an additional song that was performed by Rahman at the audio launch. It was released on 24 April 2010 by T-Series.
Awards and nominations
6th Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild AwardsWon
- Apsara Award for Best Cinematography - V. Manikandan (shared with GuzaarishGuzaarishGuzaarish is a 2010 Hindi drama romance film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai in the lead roles. The film is produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Ronnie Screwvala under the banner of SLB Films and UTV Motion Pictures.The first look of Guzaarish was...
) - Apsara Award for Best Re-recording - Tapan Nayak
- Apsara Award for Best Visual Credits - Srinivas Karthik Kotamraju
- Apsara Award for Best cinematography - Santosh Sivan
Nominated
- Apsara Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Female) - Priya Mani
2011 Zee Cine Awards
Zee Cine Awards
The Zee Cine Awards or "ZCA" for short is an awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. It was first held in 1998 in Mumbai. Since then, it has gained substantial popularity as a notable awards ceremony to the Indian population as well as to the viewers of Zee Network.In 2004, the ZCA went...
Nominated
- Best Actor in a Negative RoleZee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Negative RoleThe Zee Cine Award Best Actor in a Negative Role is chosen by a jury organized by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, and the winner is announced at the ceremony.Kajol was the first woman to win this award.The winners are listed below:-...
- Abhishek Bachchan