Shooting began soon after, and took place in various locations with a record number of extras in areas including Chalakudy, Kerala, and Ooty, Tamil Nadu amongst other regions throughout India.

It is revealed that Beera is a local hero in his village who runs a parallel government in rural areas with his brothers, Mangal and Hariya.

Unhappy with the ways of leading the war causing distress to his gang, Hariya offers a truce to Dev, who initially seems to agree.

When Hariya arrives from his hideout, Dev shoots him to death, revealing that he considers the destruction of Beera more important than saving Raagini.

Beera denies the accusation, and the duo quickly realises that Dev lied, hoping Raagini would lead him to his hideout.

[6] Based on a short story by Ismat Chughtai,[7] it was a musical period film set in the desert and was to star Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor in the lead.

[8] Though the film was slated to go on floors after the release of the former,[9] there were reports of a fall-out between Ratnam and Khan due to creative differences.

[15] A modern-day retelling of the mythological epic Ramayana, the film again features the real life couple in the lead.

Peter Hein and Shyam Koushal choreographed the action sequences and Samir Chanda took care of production design.

Raavan was shot in numerous locations around India including the forests of Karnataka (Tumkur), Kerala (Athirappilly Falls),[27] Ooty, Jhansi, Kolkata, Mahabaleshwar and in the Malshej Ghats in Maharashtra.

[51][52] By July, the crew moved back to Kerala,[53] to reshoot a few scenes at Chalakudy as Ratnam was reportedly unsatisfied after seeing the rushes.

[58][59] The film began its last schedule in August 2009 at the Malshej Ghats in Maharashtra where the climax sequence was shot,[60] the final encounter taking place on a wooden bridge.

[61] Production designer Samir Chanda built three identical bridges to facilitate the scene to be captured from different angles.

[62][63] Though initially planned to be built either in Sri Lanka, Australia or South Africa, the bridge was constructed in Mumbai to reduce costs.

[64][65] While bad weather and heavy rains disrupted shoot for a few days,[66] the forest department filed cases against some crew members for trespassing.

[71][72] The stunts were directed by Mani Ratnam and choreographed by Peter Hein, who received a Filmfare action award for the Hindi versions of Ghajini and Anniyan.

[75] Dancer Astad Deboo choreographed a passionate chase scene and a tandav dance between Abhishek and Aishwarya for the film.

[82] Noyon Jyoti Parasara of AOL rated it 2.5/5 and stated, "Raavan is more a choreographed musical-cum-psychological drama but without proper character backing.

[85] Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India rated it favourably at 3.5/5, saying, "There are enough punches in the second half to keep the momentum going, but by and large, the film scores mostly on art and aesthete".

[86] Raja Sen of Rediff rated it 2/5 and said, "Raavan truly and tragically fails us is in taking one of our greatest epics, and making it unforgivably boring".

[87] Parimal Rohit of Buzzine Bollywood said, "Raavan is ultimately a clever film, as it pushed the envelope on how one goes about defining who is good and who is evil".

[90] However, Frank Lovece of Film Journal International found it a "cracklingly stylish, suspenseful psychological drama" with "a visual sense that evokes David Fincher at his darkest", and admired the dance numbers, "one taking place somewhat naturalistically at a wedding, the other essentially a stunning war dance".

[91] The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times likewise gave it positive reviews: Rachel Saltz of the former made it a Times "Critic's Pick" and lauded Ratnam as "a talented visual storyteller who directs action crisply and fills the screen with striking images" including "an eye-popping climactic battle",[92] while Kevin Thomas of the latter said the film "is replete with dizzying camerawork, myriad complications, violent mayhem, broad humor, [the] usual musical interludes, a cliffhanging climactic confrontation and a finish that strikes a note of poignancy".