Director: Nitesh Tiwari
39 years ago, Ramanand Sagar’s television adaptation brought the entire country to a standstill every Sunday. Ramayana Part 1 can truly stand up to any Hollywood film in this aspect. It sets the stage up for a visual and narrative contrast when we are introduced to his nemesis, Ram.
Probably every Indian has heard it, seen it, acted in a school play or read about it: the Ramayana. 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. The story is based on Valmiki’s Ramayana , and here, it starts off with Raavan’s backstory. 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. I am happy to report, all that money shows on screen. This is not an average VFX driven film; care has actually been put into how it all looks. 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 film. 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. the expectations were so sky high that the ultimate results fall short While it certainly sounds pleasing and lends a lot to some sequences. The songs seem unnecessary sometimes.
