Movie Reviews
Villain - Movie Review
By
Jun 18, 2010 - 9:46:23 AM

Movie: Villain

Cast: Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Prithviraj, Karthik, Prabhu, Ranjitha and others

Dialogues: Sri Ramakrishna
Lyrics: Veturi
Music: A.R.Rehman
Cinematography: Santosh Sivan, V Manikandhan
Editing: Srikarara Prasad
Action: Peter Hein
Art: Samir Chanda

Produced by: Mani Ratnam and Sharada

Directed by: Mani Ratnam

What�s it about!

The film is Mani Ratnam�s version of Ramayanam. Here Rama is a Police Officer and his wife is Seetha. A dreaded outlaw is Raavana. His sister is Surpanaka. Veeraiah aka Veera and his brother (Prabhu) live in a jungle near Nallamalla forests. He is feared and loved by local folk. Police are on the hunt to nab him. One day, Veera kidnaps Raagini (Aishwarya Rai), wife of a Superintendent of Police called Deva (Prithviraj). Veera has a personal score to settle with Dev and the cops whom he believes is responsible for his sister Vennala�s (Priyamani) custodial rape and subsequent suicide. During her 14-day hostage, Ragini discovers that her �Ram� is no God and her abductor �Raavan� is not really rakshasha.

Analysis

In the past Mani Rathnam has successfully modernized a portion of Mahabharatam in Rajnikanth and Mammotty starrer Dalapathy. So it is quite natural to expect his latest film, Villain, (dubbed version of his Tamil flick, Raavanan), based on Ramayanam, to be another engrossing entertainer. But Villain is nowhere in the league of his previous classics. On the surface, we get to know evidently that Mani Ratnam has tried to give Dravidian twist to Ramayanam. In Tamilnadu, a section of people treat Raavana as Dravidian hero. If Manirathnam has really dwelled deeply on that lines, it would have been good but he falters mid-way and it provides cinematic pleasures only in parts but not entirely.

Mani Ratnam also took inspiration from Akira Kurosawa�s classic Rashomon (1950)� the way Vikram�s character behaves and his howls are designed similar to what Toshiro Mifune did in the movie. Both the lead character in Villain and protagonist in Rashomon are notorious bandits and both fell in love with the charms of the heroine.

Closer home, Subhash Ghai effectively put �Villain� as hero and portrayed better the humane side of a villain in Khal Nayak. In Khal Nayak too, Madhuri Dixit , a Police Officer herself, is in love with a fellow officer, but goes undercover as prostitute to arrest a notorious gangster Sanjay Dutt and starts loving the �goodness� of the Khal Nayak. In Villain too, Aishwarya later finds the �God-like� goodness in Vikram.

But Mani Ratnam could not create magic like Rashomon or Khal Nayak, as his story is wafer thin and one-dimensional. Added to that boring screenplay in the first hour kills the mood. Moreover, the dialogues are archaic. Sri Ramakrishna still writes dialogues like they were spoken in 50�s, 60�s Telugu films. Half of the Telugu dialogues are not clearly understood.

Yet Villain has some superb cinematic scenes and the flashback episode arrests you. One thing that strikes first is its stunning visuals. The movie, on the whole, is a visual splendor thanks to the imaginative camerawork of Santosh Sivan and Manikandan.

On the whole, only visuals and some moments here and there remain in your mind while you come out from the theatre leaving you in big disappointment with the narration.

Performances

All the actors have done honest job. Vikram steals the show, though. His look, his intensity in eyes, the posture, and the ruggedness create an aura around his character. Primal desire to own Raagini (Aish) is portrayed with eyes only. But in some scenes, he goes overboard (you can say over-action). He has dubbed his voice in Telugu. Aishwarya Rai looks stunningly beautifully despite age is catching up on her face and she comes up with competent performance. But her dubbed voice is not perfect. Malayalam actor Prithviraj looks dashing and good foil to the Vikram. In other roles, Priyamani (first rate) and Prabhu shine.

On technical part, Santosh Sivan weaves magic with his natural lighting, restless camera moving. His visuals dominate the content. That is the sad part as it overshadows the movie. Editing by Srikara Prasad is absolutely good. But dialogues are too bad. When will Sri Ramakrishna learn how characters are spoken in today�s movies? In one scene, Vikram says mee unnatalu chesedi correctena? My god, can anybody use �unnatlu� for the word rich guys /high society guys these days? What an archaic language.

Mani Ratnam is known for creating drama in simple scenes too but somehow he missed the trait in this movie. He is letdown by his own script. Although he still frames shots so evocatively, the lush green look and color tone of the movie is absolutely contrast to the theme except that it is set in forest. But wonders what is the reason behind water being the main motif. Major part of the movie set in the backdrop of the waterfalls and the characters have long conversations as it rains continuously. What this metaphor stands for?

The climax fight between Vikram and Prithviraj on the bridge is extraordinary but similar action fight was done in Mahesh Babu�s Sainikudu. AR Rahman�s music and Mani�s song picturisation and placement, for which he is famous, are pretty ordinary.

Bottom-line!

Villain is an example of good idea gone bad, due to weak screenplay and lack of conviction to go bold. Yet, Villain is good in parts. For common audience, the movie might seem boring but film lovers should watch it for its beautiful framing and other technical wizardry.

Rating: 2.75/5

Reviewed by JP