Raavanan is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language epic action-adventure film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Mani Ratnam.

The film stars Vikram, Prithviraj Sukumaran and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead roles along with a supporting cast led by Karthik, Prabhu and Priyamani.

Raavanan was announced in February 2008, amidst much hype of the celebrated director, Mani Ratnam's return to Tamil films, whilst Vikram's and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's casting creating more anticipation.

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.

The film's music was composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics written by Vairamuthu, the cinematography was handled by V. Manikandan and Santhosh Sivan, and editing done by A. Sreekar Prasad.

Whilst on a boating trip, Raagini is kidnapped by Veera, where her husband SP Dev Prakash Subramaniam IPS, is informed of the incident.

It is revealed that Veera is a local hero in his village, who runs a parallel government in rural areas near Tirunelveli, with his brothers – Singarasu and Sakkarai.

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

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

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

[1] Based on a short story by Ismat Chughtai,[2] it was a musical period film set in the desert and was to star Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor in the lead.

[3] Though the film was slated to go on floors after the release of the former,[4] there were reports of a fall-out between Ratnam and Khan due to creative differences.

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

[16] Later, Vikram, the lead actor, clarified in an interview that the film was tentatively titled Ravana but was wrongly reported as Ashokavanam.

While Bachchan and Vikram were roped in for the contrasting leads in Hindi, Ratnam asked them to swap roles in Tamil.

[22] After a brief hiatus, Karthik made a comeback with this film, collaborating with Ratnam for the third time after Mouna Ragam and Agni Natchathiram.

[30][31][32][33] Likewise, singer Vidya Rao's role as the mother of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's character was also cut from the final version.

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

[43] It was also reported that Ratnam had planned to shoot at Sri Lanka[44][45] but decided against it owing to insurgency by the rebel group LTTE.

[68][69] By July, the crew moved back to Kerala,[70] to reshoot a few scenes at Chalakudy as Ratnam was reportedly unsatisfied after seeing the rushes.

[74][75] The film began its last schedule in August 2009 at the Malshej Ghats in Maharashtra where the climax sequence was shot,[76] the final encounter taking place on a wooden bridge.

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

[78][79] Though initially planned to be built either in Sri Lanka, Australia or South Africa, the bridge was constructed in Mumbai to reduce costs.

[80][81] While bad weather and heavy rains disrupted shoot for a few days,[82] the forest department filed cases against some crew members for trespassing.

[131] Raavanan was previewed at the Devi-Sri Devi Cinema Complex in Chennai, where it received a standing ovation by film personalities including Rajinikanth.

[146] The CNN-IBN stated that "The film is certainly not the best from Mani Ratnam's Madras Talkies, but it can't be dismissed as shabby.

Even if this Raavanan has no shades of grey, overall the film falls under the greyish form of art from Mani Ratnam enterprises, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays the strong woman who does not fear her kidnapper.

[151] Indiaglitz praised the music, cast, dialogues and cinematography, but stated that the first half was "an utter waste of film reels".

[160][161] Though the film opened to packed houses, it slumped a little due to mixed reviews but later picked up following a local holiday.

[173] The Competition Commission of India (CCI), in an interim order, stayed the chamber ban and permitted Reliance Big Entertainment Limited (RBEL) to exhibit the film in 36 cinemas.