A broken god lies on the riverbed. Drenched in the incessant downpour, Ragini (Aishwarya Rai) asks the god for the strength to hate. "Don't show bad people in good light. Don't show them as truthful," she begs. As she wipes her tears, she senses Veera (Vikram) watching her. He smiles and asks: "What kind of man is your SP (police officer)? Is he a good man or a very good man?" "God-like," she replies.
Veera is curious about her god and muses about his greatness "I feel jealous," Veera confesses. "A burning ache deep inside.
Does your god feel jealous too? No, only Veera does-the downtrodden, uncouth brute. Not a match for you, or your god-like husband. But jealousy has suddenly made me feel matchless. It makes me feel invincible. This demon of jealousy has made me all-powerful," he declares gleefully. He looks around. Ragini has disappeared.
The scene, perhaps one of the most powerful ones in Raavanan (2010), encapsulates the multiple layers at which the film weaves in the inversion of the classic mythological epic Ramayana. The most prominent inversion is, of course, of the hero and the anti-hero.
Dev Prakash (Prithviraj Sukumaran), the devious police officer with a daunting record of encounters, is Ram.
On the other hand, Veeraiya 'Veera', a people's leader, is Raavan-an Adivasi rebel, fighting to avenge his sister's rape in police custody.
But Raavanan meddles with the binaries of good and evil beyond just the narrative. It interrogates the qualities that define the figures of Ram and Raavan in the Ramayana and turns them on their head.
Envy which is said to have possessed Raavan in the epic, leading to his downfall-becomes Veera's strength in Raavanan. Envy births love within him, amidst the endless flow of pain and rage. He isn't listening to his ten heads anymore; his heart has spoken.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 21, 2024-Ausgabe von Outlook.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 21, 2024-Ausgabe von Outlook.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Between Life, Death and Protest
The strain of sustaining a long protest is evident among farmers at Khanauri, but the sense of community remains strong
Protest 2.0
Farmers still have hopes from their leaders, but time is running out. The enemies, in the meanwhile, are sharpening their weapons
Trajectory of Nowhere
In the context of space and time, who are we humans and do we even matter?
All of God's Men
THE ongoing Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj is a spectacle, a photo op, and an emotion and manifestation of the mixing of spirituality and faith.
Embers Rekindled
While the recent death by suicide of a farmer has rendered the mood sombre at Shambhu border, the protests have picked momentum at the call of the unions
Time for Course Correction
What the protest by Punjab's landed peasantry tells us about the state's economy and society
The Untouchable
The ideological chasm between Ambedkar's vision and the Hindutva worldview remains irreconcilable
Frontliners
A day in the life of women protesting at Shambhu border
The Farmer-Composing Antagonist
Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal has been on a fast-unto-death at Khanauri border to pressurise the government to fulfil its promises to the farming community
Till Death Do Us Part
Jagjit Singh Dallewal has reinforced how a fast unto death can serve as a warning and an appeal to the public and the government
