Bhawana Somaaya

A few weeks ago we witnessed the retelling of Mahabharata against a political backdrop in Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti. This week the audience can feat their eyes on a retelling of Ramayana in Mani Ratnam’s cop- criminal story Raavan.

Some characters and circumstances bear similarity with the epic, some alter dramatically.

The legend has it that Ram and Sita first met in a temple before he officially won her hand in a swayamvar. Dev and Ragini are introduced as a well adjusted couple. He is a feared cop and she a classical dance teacher.

In the epic Ram is sent to exile due to family feud. In the film Dev is posted to a secluded tribal region Lalmati because he is the most courageous in the department.

Sita was lured by by Raavan sent golden deer. Ragini is attracted to a fluttering falcon sent by Beera.

Raavan declared war with Ram to avenge a personal grouse- he wanted justice for his sister Supanakha humiliated by Laksman. Beera challenges Dev to seek justice for his sister abused by Dev’s police department.

What is interesting are the innumerable revisions:

Mani Ratnam’s Lakshman does not stretch a boundary for his sister-in-law. Nor does Ragini drop her ornaments on her way to her captive for her consort to trail her. She is confident he will find her irrespectively.

Sanjevani alias Hanuman leads his hero to the devil’s gate. He visits Ragini as Dev’s messenger but this Sita does not demand a ring for evidence, she trusts him.

This Hanuman does not destroy the dense forests into flames. He recommends peace and Beera trusts him, sends his brother for negotiation with Dev. Unlike Ram who takes Vibhishan under his wing, Dev deceives his enemy and makes Beera further angry.

Dev Pratap Singh demands an agni pariksha out of Ragini as well- in this case interpreted as Polygraph Test- but Ragini refuses the trial by the fire and that is the high point of the film. She will not seek shelter in any ashram instead returns to Raavan to seek answers.

Ratnam’s Ramayan professes that there is a Ram in every Raavan and a Raavan in every Ram. It rewrites history and reinterprets justice and morality.

There are some films you watch for the story and the surprises they unfold and some for the treatment and the interpretations. Clearly Raavan falls into the latter. The film is a triumph of the entire technician team- Santosh Sivan’s breathtaking visuals, Shyam Kaushal’s dare-devil actions, unforgettable sound, Samir Chanda’s art design, actor Shobhana’s erotic choreography, Gulzar’s robust lyrics and AR Rahman’s haunting music.

Understandably the film has many flaws- the paper thin story line, the never ending climax, gruesome violence, low emotion quotient. Some out of place dialogue like when Vikram asks a battered assistant if he is okay. It’s obvious he isn’t. Some places Aishwarya looks over made up and some sequences like the wedding celebration appear exaggerated. But every frame is so beautiful that you forgive these indulgences. You forgive that there is little drama and conflict, little to cry and laugh.

Govinda as the acrobatic assistant is refreshing. Abhishek cleverly portrays the larger than life character with his booming voice and body language. Aishwarya Rai as Sita is fiery and passionate, reckless and irresistible. It is brave of the cast and the crew to weather such excruciating climate and locations. The final hero of the film is of course the director. Ratnam for combines so many talents and takes his audience uncomfortably close to the camera.

Raavan is Ratnam’s most difficult and demanding film to date and also most progressive.
Raavan rewrites history and introduces us to a new age Sita who is self reliant and fearless and just for that he deserves applause.

Bhawana Somaaya
www.bhawanasomaaya.com

Yesterday we immersed Godess Durga into the occean. A few weeks ago, we immersed Lord Ganpati and prior to that Godess Gauri. After ten days of fun and frolic, of celebration and rejoicing, the deities leave our homes with an aching vacuum.

After the departure of Lord Ganpati we observed the shraad period when we paid obeisance to our ancestors. We recalled our forefathers and performed charity in their memory and when the rituals ended, came the Navratri festival. Up North they celebrate the festival with nine days of relaying the epic Ramayan through the Ramleela an enactment of Rama’s life. In Bombay, we dance to the disco beats in playgrounds. In Gujarat they still perform the traditional Garba and down South, they hold the custom of hosting the Golu-the seven steps to salvation visited by the relatives.

On the tenth, the Vijayadashmi day, when Lord Rama shot arrow at Ravana we burn effigies of Ravana, his son Meghanand and brother Kumbhkaran. Those who cannot for reasons witness the ceremony of effigies ablaze cut a cucumber at home, symbolizing the chopping of Ravana’s head. The victory ends the days of fasting, music and celebration. The earthen pot Gujaratis preserve at home during the nine days and sing aartis to symbolise Goddess Amba/Kali’s body and the lamp they light within the pot, symbolises her soul. At the end of the festival they deposit the earthen pot and the Jawar plant inside a temple. The South Indians pack up the Golu and the Bengalis immerse the Goddess idol into the water.

There is a tradition of Pranpratishtha where the priest arrives on the innaugral day of the Durga puja and transmits life into the Goddess. On the last day she is released from the earth and we bid her farewell by dancing to the beats of the dhaks/drums. Before the immersion, the women usually dressed in red and white saris, smear each other’s faces with sindoor. The custom is recognized as sindoor khela. Ganesh Chaturthi follows an identical tradition where the priest brings life into the idol on the first day and releases the deity from earth on the last day.

I have hosted Lord Ganpati for fifteen years for all ten days at my home but resisted the custom of Pranpratishtha. I disbelieve that a human being-so what if he is a priest, holds the power to put life into an idol. That is why I bring the deity home as a friend and as a companion. He occupies the privileged position in my abode. I wake him with a lamp and feed him all I eat- that is breakfast, lunch and dinner. I serve him tea when I make my coffee and give him dry fruits when I eat my cornflakes. He watches my routine, my life. I share my anxieties; my dreams and my friends and relatives visit to seek his blessings like they would from a senior member in the family.

Contrary to the tradition, I don’t guard him all day and don’t invade his privacy. I don’t entertain him with blaring music as people think he ought to for I don’t think Ganpati approves of cacophony! He is a writer and I treat him like a sensitive artiste. I provide him with paper and pen should he feel inspired to write and I respect his solitude and space. There are times we write together in the same room. He writes my destiny and I write my columns and often we make eye contact in silence.

On the tenth day, when it is time to bid him farewell, I am heavy hearted and sad. I reluctantly pack his belongings and feed him dahi-shakkar for a safe journey in to the rowdy, overcrowded occean. At the door, I whisper sweet nothings into his ear and though he appears calm and unruffled, I have faith that he has heard my woes and absorbed my dreams and will make them all come true.
So will ma Durga, ma Amba and ma Kaali. They make certain that I will emerge strong and empowered and will not bemoan their departure. They remind me that it is only few days before they will be visiting me again. This time as Goddess Lakshmi, to bless me during the festival of Diwali.