Ramayana Part 1 review: Yash, Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi's spectacular film breathes new life into an epic we know by heart
Here's the latest update from the Bollywood world:
Star Ranbir Kapoor is portraying Ram in the movie Ramayana. Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Yash
Adding to this, Probably every Indian has heard it, seen it, acted in a school play or read about it: the Ramayana. 39 years ago, Ramanand Sagar's television adaptation brought the entire country to a standstill every Sunday. People tell me how they would drop everything to sit in front of the television, with streets practically deserted during the show's time slot. The cultural impact of that adaptation is difficult to replicate. Delivering something that can stand alongside a legacy of this magnitude is a Herculean task.
Meanwhile, Does Namit Malhotra's Ramayana: Part 1 have the bravado to pull it off? In short: yes.
Notably, The story is based on Valmiki's Ramayana , and here, it starts off with Raavan's backstory. It sets the stage up for a visual and narrative contrast when we are introduced to his nemesis, Ram. The screenplay by Sridhar Raghavan and Nitesh Tiwari has enough emotional and dramatic moments. But the first half is slow. The aim, which was always to split the movie into two parts, gave the makers a lot of room for character study. Which gives us long introductions for pretty much everyone. This drags the first half down. There are also some minor issues with the AI dubbing.
As per the latest buzz, The second half thankfully raises the action and we get some truly breathtaking sequences. Which brings me to the VFX. Done by DNEG, Namit's company, perhaps 70 percent of the total budget must have been invested on this technical bit. How else do you justify an alleged ₹ 4000 crore rupees investment?
In further updates, I am happy to report, all that money shows on screen. This is not an average VFX driven movie; care has actually been put into how it all looks. Ramayana Part 1 can truly stand up to any Hollywood movie in this aspect.
On top of that, What is also praiseworthy is how care has been taken to cover the basics properly: from how Raavan took over Kuber's Lanka, his Shiv bhakti, that moment of horror when Kaikayi realises her folly- all this sucks you into the movie. The makers have not messed with how Indians remember the story. (Hi, Adipurush, here's looking at you.)
Now the much publicised collaboration of Hollywood legend Hans Zimmer and Indian titan AR Rahman for the music and background score. While it certainly sounds pleasing and lends a lot to some sequences, the expectations were so sky high that the ultimate results fall short. The songs seem unnecessary sometimes.
Source: Hindustan Times