Maniratnam, Raavanan and Ramayana
Last week the movie Ravanan got released in multiple languages – Hindi, tamil, telugu. Its a ManiRatnam magnum opus scripted around the character of Ravana – the ten headed villain in Hindu epic Ramayana. Its about exploring the ten different characters in the same person and how they interact, conflict each other. Is it like a multiple personality disorder? I don’t know – haven’t seen the movie. There is a recent spate of movies based on our holy epics. If Rajneeti by Prakash Jha was a take on Mahabharatha, Mani’s version is inspired by Ramayana. In fact this is a first take on Ramayan being used as base for modern day story telling. Mani has to be credited for his creativity and for going in the direction of unexplored waters. What are these epics? Are they just stories, fables or reality? What makes them holy?