Law - "The principles and regulations established in a community by some authority. "

We have all gone through all these definitions ,phrases & various acts of law from school an umpteen number of times but more often than not these lines become just lines in our society.

All these so called laws are like a tissue paper in a restroom which are used at will & when necessary especially by the authorities who are responsible for enforcing them.

And finally its the aam aadmi (common man) who pays the price in this puppet show called democracy where the judicial society are well above the reaches of the so-called law.

PLOT : " A local village rebel kidnaps the wife of a police officer to prove a point that no one's above the laws of justice but things take a drastic turn when he decides to kill her. "



First things first ,With Raavanan Mani Ratnam has threaded on a path that is well known here in India ,Ramayana is a well known epic among indians on which the plot of the movie is loosely based on ,kudos to the director for taking this path & showcasing a refreshing premises.

There are mixed reviews among people upon the film's release but i'm for one who would say that i thoroughly cherished the movie from the intense start to the poetic ending.

Screenplay moved with the flow of the film that reverberated with powerhouse performances from the lead actors and the supporting cast ,the director deserves the credit for bring out stellar performances from his crew.

Vikram as the protagonist is the shinning light in the movie's cast ,his character of a man with complex thinking has surely struck the right chord in the film ,he shouts ,he's silent ,he imitates ,he growls thereby exposing all his bottled up emotions.

Aishwarya Rai ,the lead lady goes through grueling sessions of physical & mental hardships that put to test all her years of experience which turns out impressive.Prithviraj as her husband is stiff physically & emotionally which reflects his role as a cop.

The other supporting cast includes Karthik ,Prabhu ,Vaiyapuri ,Priyamani ,John Vijay & Munna.They too were a treat on screen ,all of them had their meaty share of roles that were utilised well.

Cinematography by Santosh Sivan and V. Manikandan is one of the best i have seen ,all the beauty locales were justifiably filmed ,it would rival the best picture demos.Everything was so mesmerizingly shot.

Stunts by Shyam Kaushal and Peter Hein are topnotch ,a single stunt scene where the lead lady crashes to the river was so beautiful ,editing by 7 time national award winner A. Sreekar Prasad was evident in his crisp clips of the film's songs.

A. R. Rahman's songs & background score provide enough chills & moods to the films at the right places ,his association with Mani Ratnam has beared fruit yet again.

The premises for the plot of revenge & kidnapping is a tried and tested one but what makes Raavanan special is not its plot but the cinematic treat the film offers at the hands of one of India's finest directors ever.

The director's lead character Veeraiya portrays aam aadmi's (common man) sufferings at the hands of the judicial authorities who get away with all the atrocities they do in the name of law.

Such is the convenience democracy provides to these people ,say how many of these judicial people have ever been convicted for their atrocities ?

Are they above the law ??

• Director : Mani Ratnam

• Writer : Mani Ratnam

• Cast : Vikram ,Aishwarya Rai ,Prithviraj ,Karthik ,Prabhu ,Priyamani ,Vaiyapuri ,John Vijay , Munna

• Rating : "PG" for intense scenes of violence.