I was strangely reluctant to watch the movie when it was released. Since the epic Ramayan is close to my heart, I was afraid of the disappointment if the movie turned out to be bad. After the movie was released, I read all the horrifying reviews and funny roasts on YT, I was happy that I did not watch the movie. I donโt know what happened today.. may be โVinashkale viparit buddhiโ. I watched it today. And oh my Lord Ram.. this was worse than my nightmare. I think the director wanted to recreate the magic of Bahubali. He might have succeeded if he stuck with original script which for Godโs sake is THE RAMAYAN. Why, frigging why, try to massacre the Ramayan!!
The only good thing that they managed, in my opinion, is the casting; especially all the marathi actors and Prabhas. He has a presence for sure. But throughout the film, I felt so bad for the man. His body language, expressions, everything screamed being leashed. He seemed down right uncomfortable in many scenes. Ravan strangely reminded me of Iron Man. He kept walking like Tony after he put on his suit. Ravan was an artistic genius too. He was a master of music, poetry, classical dance, etc. Here Saif Ali Khan just kept grimacing, making faces like he smelled something bad under his nose and walked like he had a bad case of something. Lanka was Swarna Lanka means Lanka made up of gold; not black gold but golden gold. Seeta was kept in โAshok Vatikaโ. It means garden of Ashok Tree. Not under some fake cherry blossom tree. This is SriLanka.. a tropical is;and country., It does not have cherry blossoms for the love of Hanumanโs tail. At least pretend to do basic research. I am all for equality and womenโs rights; but this is a period film; based on a thousand year old tale. Seeta would not call her husband by his name; she would not hug him in front of his vanar sena. Ravan flew โPushpak Vimanโ which he had confiscated from Indra. He did not fly on a giant bat. He was not a Nazgul from LOTR. it would be useless from this movie to discuss blurring of โdharmaโ and its justification from Ram when he killed Vali. Ha.. no chance, itโs too heavy for this movie.
The audacity of people thinking they can interpret every piece of art the way they want. True, art can be interpreted anyway one wants but the Ramayan is not just art. It is one of the important pillars of Hindu mythology. Why butcher it? If you want to make a fantasy movie, write a new story, like Bahubali. That way you can take all the damn cinematic liberty you want. People will enjoy it. Why try to lift the Shivdhanushya of Ramayan and fail quite spectacularly?
Laughable screenplay, mediocre direction, weird and abrasive dialogs, sub par VFX, atrocious updates to the original story, discouraged performances, cartoonish or worst caricatuiristic characterization, what more should I name. This movie sucks.. big time.. only good part is casting and OST. Everything else is a nightmare. I donโt know if I should be sad or angry to see such a mockery of my beloved Ramayan. May Lord Ram forgive and enlighten you!