RAMAYANA, a story that has been told not less than a million times, and the lore of which has traveled to almost every heart of India, in which echoes the relics of its grandeur through every visible art, beauty and aesthetic, has returned once again. This time at a large scale with a promise of never seen before spectacles.
The dream project of Namit Malhotra, the owner and CEO of eight time academy award winner Prime focus studio and DNEG (Double Negative), have claimed its worth around Rs 4000 crore, a figure which is unusual for a Bollywood production and could only be betted upon until and unless it is not a story which is familiar across the nation.
Made in an attempt to lure the audience worldwide into the mystical cum devotional ambience of perhaps India’s most beloved god, Lord Rama, the movie doesn’t shy away in putting forth the idea of presenting Rama more in a human form rather than one-dimensional omniscience.
An ideal son, husband and brother jostling in the middle of his quest to get together with his destiny and set to encounter a mammoth adversary, Ravana who has even beaten gods and is unscathed before any human.
The movie delivers impressively on the premise of it being the best looking movie yet in Indian cinema in terms of visual effects and CGI (Computer-Generated imagery). Every frame of the film shows the immense hard work put in by artists. The sheer intensity of awe-inspiring sight of action and gigantic set pieces left no stone unturned to transport you to a scale of big-budget hollywood level experience.
One sequence in which Lord Rama decimates the army of 14,000 demons feels vis-à-vis a marvel movie. Before the end credit bids you farewell, the most electrifying scene of the movie, the duel of Ravana and Jatayu unfolds in a tragic culmination, a large spellbinding moment of silence among the audience who seemed to appreciate the whole sequence.
The music is another specification where the movie takes another gold in its tally. The duo of composer Hans Zimmer (famous for Interstellar, The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean) and A.R. Rehman has created tracks epic, emotional, with a feel of jittery and with a mixture of devotion and kindness of Lord Rama and innocence of Ma Sita.
On the scale of acting, the movie has also done well. When Ranbir Kapoor was first announced to play Lord Rama, questions were raised and the casting of Sai Pallavi as Ma Sita was also criticized. But Ranbir has adeptly adjusted himself to match the serene looking expression of Lord Rama while Sai has also molded her character on the lines of Ma Sita’s decorative cum motherly magnificence.
But the one character that seems to steal all the limelight is Yash’s intriguing avatar of the demon king of Lanka, Ravana. His unmatched aura even before the gods like Indra and the ominous impulse to lock horns with the protector of the world- Lord Vishnu, has catapulted him to a position which is respected widely across his race.
Although the VFX and CGI is a USP (Unique Selling Preposition) of the movie, at some instances it feels a little hit and miss off the point. The physique of Kumbha Karna and other giant figures looks superficial and lacks emotional qualities.
The lack of emotional connection and underdeveloped bond between the characters, further accentuated by the dearth of dialogues, plagues the screenplay to not let it reach its full potential. Too much reliance on the visuals at a point feels jarring and repetitive.
One more problem it contains is that you compare the scale of the movie to the giant series like Lord of the Rings (2001-03) and Star Wars (1977) but there were hardly any memorable establishing shots to set up the impression of the given world we are about to dive into. For instance when the trio of Lord Rama, Ma Sita and Laxman left for the jungle there were no efforts made by the director to show their struggles and establish an environment where they will dwell for the next 14 years. They just appeared in the scene as if they already knew where they would stay.
Another blow to the element of the story is an assumption that not everything can be dealt with as per individual’s expectations. Ramayana rules over the soul and heart of the audience for thousands of years and to sum up the epic in three hours is really a tough job. To satiate everyone’s need is not going to be fulfilled.
Overall Ramayana was an honest attempt to showcase the culture and the potential which our epics hold. Fault lies at some instances which is a normal part of the process but it is not that the movie can not be embraced. It can be and it should be because there are some movies
which decides the roadmap of the future and Ramayana is also the one which will inspire the future generations as it has been doing since.
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