Raavan (Hindi: रावण) is a forthcoming Hindi film written and directed by Mani Ratnam. It stars Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Vikram in the lead roles while Govinda, Ravi Kishan, Nikhil Dwivedi, and Priyamani play key supporting roles. The film is expected to be released on June 18, 2010.[1] It is simultaneously being made in Tamil as Raavanan with a slightly different cast. The music of the movie is composed by Academy Awards winner A. R. Rahman.[2][3]The film will also be dubbed into Telugu and other regional languages. The audio is scheduled to be released on 24th April 2010 [4][5]. The audio rights were bought by T-Series. The first look promo debuted on YouTube on 16th April 2010 as the music launch teaser.
Mani Ratnam has reportedly shot a film that is a modern day version and a loose adaptation of the great Indian epic Ramayana which tells the story of Rama, whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon (Rākshasa) king of Lanka, Ravana. It is said that Raavan will have a new twist on the Ramayana.[6] Mani Ratnam had earlier directed Thalapathi, which bore close resemblance to the Mahabharata.
While everyone thinks that Abhishek Bachchan plays a character based on Raavana in Mani Ratnam’s Raavana, the film’s most wellkept secret is out.
Abhishek’s character in the forthcoming film is not only based on the life of Raavana but also on Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy.
Our source said, “Mani Ratnam loves having a strong element of contemporary history in his films. Be it Nayakan based on don Vardha Rajan’s life, Guru based on Dhirubhai Ambani’s life or Bombay which depicted the Hindu-Muslim riots in Mumbai after the Babri Masjid demolition. Even in Roja, Dil Se and Yuva, Mani dealt with serious issues such as terrorism in Kashmir, a woman suicide bomber and college politics respectively. While there is a buzz about Raavana being inspired from the Ramayana and that Abhishek is playing Raavana, fact is that the real inspiration for Abhishek’s character came from Kobad Ghandy.”
Mani had appointed a team of researchers to get as much data available about Kobad Ghandy as he wanted Abhishek’s character to be strikingly similar to the Maoist leader. “In Raavana Abhishek plays Veera, a naxalite leader of the downtrodden villagers in eastern Madhya Pradesh. Just like Ghandy’s Communist party India-Maoist is banned, Abhishek’s organisation is also banned in the film,” added the source.
“Abhishek’s character in Raavana is very intelligent. Ghandy was assigned the task to win over the middle class and intellectual society in Karnataka and Kerala as the Maoists thought that he could do this with ease. The major difference between the two characters is that while Ghandy is an educated man, Abhishek’s character is from a small and remote village from Eastern MP. In short, the story of the Ramayana is very nicely and intelligently woven into the story of Kobad Ghandy,” said the source.
Production
Shooting began in the southern part of India at the end of October 2008. During filming, Mani Ratnam became ill which delayed the filming for a few months in 2009.[7] However, the film began its last schedule in August 2009. The film finished filming and went into post production by October 2009.[8]Manikandan was hired as the film's DOP or cinematographer. However he was replaced in early 2009 by Santosh Sivan who has given the film a new look.[9][10]
This film will have numerous action scenes and stunts performed by the actors. The Indian martial art Kalarippayattu is also featured in the film.[11] Dancer Astad Deboo choreographed a passionate chase scene and tandav dance between Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan for the film.[12][13] Indian fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee designed Aishwarya Rai's costumes in the film.[14]Raavan has been shot in numerous locations around India including the forests of Kerala, Ooty, Jhansi, Kolkata, and in Maharashtra at Mahabaleshwari and in the Malshej Ghats.[15][16][17][18][19]
Music
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The soundtrack of the movie will be done by A. R. Rahman with lyrics by Gulzar. According to unofficial sources, Rahman has reused two songs he composed for the shelved Aamir Khan film Lajjo and a Qawwali composed for Jodhaa Akbar which was not used in the film. There are also reports that Mani Ratnam recently shot a big budget song Kata Kata Mara Mara with 500 dancers in Jhansi, Madhya Pradesh. "A huge set was created in Jhansi to shoot this song which took four days to wrap up and has been choreographed by Ganesh Acharya," says a Unit hand.[22]Asha Bhonsle have recently recorded a song for Raavan[23] A song titled Pairon Pe Jannat Hai sung by Lucky Ali has leaked through the internet and is listed as a song from Raavan.[24] However Rahman claimed that no songs have leaked from Raavana. He also denied the news that Aishwarya Rai has recorded a song titled Kadhale(in Tamil version) for the film.[25]
The audio release was scheduled on March 2010[26] but since the release date of the film has changed, the audio release has changed to April last week.[27][28] And now, its officially confirmed that the music will be launched on 24 April.
Tracklisting
This tracklist is not officially confirmed. However, some reliable sources refer to this as the official tracklist.[29][30]
