Raavan (Abhishek, Aishwarya, Vikram, Govinda, etc), Director: Mani Ratnam (Releasing June 18, 2010) Options

[Annihilator]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Enterta...how/6094653.cms

I would do it again: Ash

Subhash K Jha, Jun 27, 2010,


Raavan has been a gruelling experience for you?
Why just me? Everyone in the film has gone through an equal amount of hardships to create a film we all believe in. There we were, getting drenched in the rain, and Mani Ratnam, Santosh Sivan . ..everyone was there facing the weather. We were all friends in the project. Everyone was there for one another. We could joke and say it was like an adventure sport, or a video game while we were making our way through the most impossible conditions. But we knew what the truth was.

Were you prepared for the severe hardships when you read the script?
It was still a bit of shock and surprise when we had to face the climatic conditions in the jungles. On top of that Mani loves to make on-the-spot changes. He improvises all the time. He doesn’t want to strictly follow the written word. He’s a master of creating magical moments out of the seemingly ordinary. What he does is incredible. Just the pleasure of working with him again (after Iruvar) was amazing.

But for a lady to be climbing those slippery rocks ....
Really (laughs), we didn’t know how slippery those rocks would be. There was this huge waterfall where we shot a lot. One never thought one would leap down those heights in and around the waterfall. Of course we were wired. But once you’re going down there’s no control. The rocks were so mossy, we had no control over our movements. We were climbing so close to the waterfall we could feel its power. It was the power of Nature in all its glory.

How could you focus on emoting while doing such dangerous stunts?
That’s magic of the camera, the magic of cinema. As for getting the emotions right, you know Mani Ratnam. Do you think he would relent until he got the emotions he wanted? We’d go through the most incredibly impossible scene. Then he’d come up to us and say, ‘I’ve got a better idea. Let’s do the whole thing again.’ I was like, ‘Are you for real? Do you know what we’re doing? And we’ve another version to capture before the light fades.’ I’d do it in Hindi and then do it all over again in Tamil.

Was the scale of your emotions higher in Tamil?
I haven’t seen the Tamil film. No time! The nuances alter from one language to the same. But the emotions were the same. Some of the lines were changed to show a difference in culture. What would seem theatrical in Hindi is natural in Tamil. But I didn’t consciously move into a different zone in the two languages. Our camereman Santosh Sivan was so innovative. The changes in lighting and mood were done by him. He was having a party while we were trying to get it right in two languages. He doesn’t only create fabulous images. He creates a magic in the language of the film. You can be sure that Mani and Santosh will together bring it all together finally. You know, Manikandan was doing the cinematography earlier. But you can’t tell where and when Santosh took over.

You actually dubbed your own lines in Tamil?
Oh yes, as far as dubbing is concerned I’ve come a long way. I remember during my first film Iruvar in Tamil, I panicked at the language. Now of course I am far more confident. But two films simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil meant pressure full-on. Until we were on the sets none of us knew what pressures we were getting into. After a while Mani was giving me scenes on the sets. Then he’d humour me saying, ‘Come come let’s do it.’It was the toughest thing I’ve ever done. I’d be standing there, having just completed a harrowing scene with Abhishek, and then without a minute’s pause I’d have to do the same scene with Vikram. We were all passionate about the project to the point of being obsessive. Everyone in the crew was there in the jungles throughout. We would tell one another that we were on a picnic or a safari adventure. But we knew what we were going through.

Would you do it again if you have to?
While we were shooting Raavan we felt the situation was impossible and we didn’t know how we’d get through it. But now that we did ...yes, I’d do it again! Just before the film’s release we all met up and we kept looking at each other thinking the same thing. ‘Is it all done already?’ And we kept saying, ‘We can do it any time again.’ And Mani was like, ‘You guys are crazy.’

You feel ill with serious viral infections during the film?
It just got widely reported. Even Abhishek and Vikram fell ill. These things happen when working under tough conditions. Mani got it. His wife Suhasini visited us. And she too got it. Such things do happen specially when you have to remain drenched from head to toe. During childhood we were taught to keep our head dry. And here I was getting drenched from early morning till late night. There was no point in drying myself because I was soaked in seconds.

Curiously you shot with two of the finest directors Mani Ratnam and Sanjay Leela Bhansali almost simultaneously, Mani completely outdoors and Sanjay fully on the sets.
And both so fulfilling in their own way. Let me tell you, I consider myself blessed. I’ve worked repeatedly with both. And both have taken my acting abilities seriously.

[Annihilator]

http://movies.indiainfo.com/raavan-a-housefull-1363145.html

'Raavan' a housefull!

Raavan may have been a flop but it still has enough curiosity around it.


And that is probably what made director Ramesh Sippy walk into a theatre to watch the film along with his wife Kiran Juneja and some friends. However he had to meet with some disappointment as the show he wanted to see was already booked.

“He was asking for a 7.30 pm show at Juhu PVR but the show was completely booked. That quite surprised the director and they even wished to speak to the manager. But the officials at the box office however told them that nothing can be done as it was a corporate booking,” says an eye witness. “Finally they saw the late night show at the same theatre,” adds the witness.


Sippys are almost a family with Bachchans, with Rohit Sippy being one of Abhishek’s closest friends.

[Annihilator]

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/tabloids/bh...%99s-acting-107

Bhansali full of praise for Abhishek’s acting

Raavan may have crashed at the box office and while critics feel that the film failed due to Abhishek Bachchan’s unconvincing performance, Sanjay Leela Bhansali is all praises for the actor. According to sources, Bhansali has never worked with Abhishek but has worked with Aishwarya in two films, and with Amitabh Bachchan in Black. In fact, Bhansali’s next film, Guzarish, has Ash in the lead role.

However, Bhansali liked Abhishek’s performance more than Aishwarya’s in Raavan. He even called Abhishek after he saw the film and applauded his performance. Abhishek, of course, was on cloud nine after getting such a call from Bhansali, especially since he was disappointed with the film’s lacklustre opening.

[AishAbhilov]

^ He needed that! Maybe Bhansali will work with him in the near future!

[Annihilator]

I'm not a big fan of Bhansali or his films. I only enjoyed maybe 2 of his films. I don't think Abhi fits into Bhansali's type of films.

[AishAbhilov]

Now that you mentioned it , I only really like Devdas and HDDCS and now hopefully Guzarish!

[Annihilator]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/enterta...how/6119809.cms

Pre-release hype is of no use!

SARAH SALVADORE, TNN, Jul 3, 2010, 12.00am IST


If it’s a lesson in marketing, then trust Bollywood to come out trumps. Hype and pre-publicity over-drive has become indispensable in the film industry today much like the must-have technology. But that does not hold true any longer.

Star power and out of the box gimmicks could not save the industry from incurring huge losses. If the half -yearly report card is to be taken into account, the Hindi film industry has lost Rs 300 crore (and still counting). Blame it on publicity over-kill or audience disinterest, the fact that B-town has failed to keep audience in the theatres in spite of the hype has never been clearer.

The last six months has seen 125 movies hit the screens. But only Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti has been declared a blockbuster and is said to have grossed over Rs 77 crore.

The biggest and much hyped releases of this year, Kites and Raavan failed to live up to their expectations and have bombed at the BO. Despite the Abhi-Ash pairing and return of the Mani-Rahman jodi — the two major selling points of the film — the audience rejected the film. During his publicity drive for the movie, actor Abhishek Bachchan clearly brushed off all the hype surrounding his pairing with Ash. “The media finds us attractive and people say the film will benefit because of this (pairing). But that’s not our motivation,” he said. “The way Raavan was hyped, considering it has a mythological background, the movie was far removed from the subject. Hence people felt cheated,” says a trade analyst.

Industry watchers claim the only two movies — Housefull and Love, Sex Aur Dhoka — have broken even. The rest, they say have fallen flat.

The year began with the much-hyped Salman starrer, Veer, which had the burden of outdoing 3 Idiots. Despite being sold as a film written by Salman, the period-drama failed to strike a chord. “At the end of the day, a film is a product that needs to be sold. But whether the product is good enough to sustain for weeks is judged by the audience. The same goes for the movies. If they are good enough the audience will keep coming, if not they reject it outright,” says ad whiz Santosh Desai.

Potent marketing tools like alleged love affairs between the lead actors and intimate scenes could not save the Hrithik-Barbara starrer Kites. The film sank without a trace even though the over-seas response is said to be encouraging for the actor. Producers too, are feeling the heat as excessive hype has proved to be disastrous. “Movies are excessively being treated like products that need to be sold with hyper marketing strategies,” says producer Mehul Kumar. “The situation is scary, as most of the recently released films are not even recovering their publicity money,” he adds.

Trade analyst Komal Nahta says, “The Hindi film industry has failed in two counts. Firstly the content, and secondly, the pricing. Huge sums of money is paid to the stars and the films too are sold for big money. It becomes difficult to recover it at the BO and not even hype can save it,” says Nahta.

Though it has been a stressful time for B-town the past six months, the industry has a lot to look forward to in the next quarter with Once Upon A Time in Mumbai, Khatta Meetha, Aisha, Action Replayy and Lafangey Parindey set to release. “Just because Kites and Raavan failed, it doesn’t mean other big releases will meet the same fate,” says Nahta, adding, “However, considering the past records, the audience is wary of big films. Caution is the key.”

[Annihilator]

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_kiwi-...-raavan_1404485

Kiwi Customs busts pirated Bollywood hit Raavan


Auckland: New Zealand Customs have intercepted a shipment of over 1700 pirated copies of the film, thus preventing an Auckland-based Indian video hire business from hijacking the release of the blockbuster Bollywood movie, Raavan.


According to a BusinessDay report, Raavan, which had its worldwide premiere on June 18, grossed 60,000 dollars on its opening weekend in New Zealand, the third highest for a Bollywood movie in the past year.

The lawyer acting for the film's distributor, Claire Tompkins of intellectual property law firm James and Wells, said her client received an anonymous tip-off about the shipment arriving on the film's opening weekend on June 18.

She filed a Copyright Customs Notice that allowed Customs frontline officers to be on the lookout and detain any pirated copies coming in.

This resulted in the shipment being found and held that weekend.

The importer has since chosen to forfeit the goods rather than face being sued by the official distributor.

[Annihilator]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/enterta...how/6127025.cms

Raavan _ Good or evil?

Anuradha Varma, TNN, Jul 4, 2010

Whether it’s burning his effigies during Dussehra, or watching Abhishek Bachchan’s machinations in Mani Ratnam’s film Raavan, the ancient villain of the epic Ramayana remains a metaphor for good against evil.

A scholar, scientist, musician and worshipper of Lord Shiva and Brahma, Raavan was the son of a Brahmin father and demon mother. According to Ranjan Singh, who directed the teleserial Raavan, “Raavan’s birth was a political ploy, as his grandfather wanted a child who would possess the intellect of a Brahmin and the might of an ‘asura’ to take over Lanka.” And while sage Vishrava taught his son the Vedas, Sumali, the demon grandfather, ensured the child didn’t forget his destructive roots. And, thus began the tussle of good and evil.

A child with 10 heads and 20 hands must have had a difficult time growing up, but Ranjan contends, “We found out during our research that he didn’t actually have so many heads and hands. It was a crystal necklace, a gift from his mother, which caused this reflection.”

As Raavan grew, he gained invincibility after a boon from Lord Brahma. Also a devotee of Shiva, as legend has it, Raavan once tried to uproot his abode Mount Kailasa and take it to Lanka for his mother. As an angered Shiva unleashed his wrath by trapping him under it, Raavan sang his praises till the God was appeased. He is also said to have torn a musical instrument out of the veins of one hand, using one head as the ‘resonator’. Says Delhi University lecturer Suneera Kasliwal, who has written a book on the subject, “This instrument is popular as the ravanhattha in Rajasthan and is considered the precursor of the violin.”

Research on the musical instrument and his book Finding the Demon’s Fiddle also took Amsterdam-based Patrick Jered to Sri Lanka, where the demon king is revered. He says, “During the course of my stay in India and Sri Lanka I came to have great respect for Raavan. The Raavan detailed in the Buddhist scripture, the Lankavatara sutra, is a wise and kind leader. He invited the Buddha to Lanka and learned from his wisdom. Among Mahayana Buddhists, Raavan is seen as a benign and wise king who attained enlightenment through the teaching of the Buddha.”

The evil despot and Rama’s bête noire, has books on medicine and science to his credit, presided over a contented and prosperous Lanka and had an army of ‘aeroplanes’, such as the Pushpak Vimana in which he abducted Sita, Lord Rama’s consort, sparking off the events leading to his death. He has even figured as the dark spirit, who may be resurrected to wreak destruction in the book Resurrecting Ravana in the American series Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. In the 19th century, poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta’s poem The Slaying of Meghnad portrayed Raavan as a hero.

Sri Lankan Neil Kiriella, who authored Historical Rawana doesn’t consider the Ramayan a mythology, but history, which occurred at least 7,500 years ago. He says, “Raavan is respected in Sri Lanka as he was our king. However, most Sri Lankans don’t appreciate the abduction of Sita. It should be noted that the Rakshasa clan were vegetarians and teetotallers.”

Actor Ravi Kissen, who played ‘Raavan’ Abhishek Bachchan’s brother in the film, says, “Raavan taught me what not to do. The lesson is of not coveting another’s wife and of not giving in to one’s ego and remaining humble.”

A split personality, he was someone power had corrupted. As theatreperson Jalabala Vaidya, who has staged several editions of the Ramayana over the years, says, “He was overwhelmed by power. He had attended Sita’s swayamvara, where he lost her to Rama and had an eye for her ever since. He believed that no woman could resist him, and that’s why he never tried to force himself on Sita.”

A case of brilliance gone wrong, he became an agent of his own destruction. Raavan also became Ram’s guru, when the latter sat at his feet and asked for his teachings as he lay dying. The demon king said, recounts mythologist and author Devdutt Pattnaik, “Things that are bad for you seduce you easily; you run towards them impatiently. But things that are actually good for you fail to attract you; you shun them creatively, finding powerful excuses to justify your procrastination. That is why I was impatient to abduct Sita but avoided meeting you. This is the wisdom of my life, Ram. My last words. I give it to you.”

And, thus, good finally triumphed over evil, even within the King of Lanka!

[Spencer]

Why make a Raavan when you can make a Housefull

The box-office report of Raavan and Housefull is out there for everyone to see and infer what they want to. And when I say Raavan, I actually am talking about movies like Dil Se, Gulaal, Firaaq, Parzania etc; and when I say Housefull, I actually am referring to movies like Welcome, SiK, Kambakht Ishq etc. Obviously, these are movies of different genres but the one thing common is that, they were all on exhibition in theatres, multiplexes etc and we know the fate of all of these movies.

So, what lessons do we learn from the BO reports. I don’t know because I am neither a critic nor a movie maker or a trade analyst; just an avid movie watcher. And here are some of the things that I have come to realise, over a period of time.

Story & Screenplay Why bother writing about problems of people in the relief camps of riot affected victims or the inspector trying to track down the goons involved in Bombay bomb blast or a radio-journalist trying to interview an ULFA terrorist or the caste/class divide in red-alert zones of Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh? We don’t want to see such non-existing issues which are hyped by media. We want to see what issues a common man faces. We want to see how a bartender in London handles the visit of his father-in-law, we want to see how a ‘panauti’ copes with life and wife, we want to see whether Uday Shetty is able to find a suitor for his sister, an intelligence agent walking around with a lie-detector and how a bumbling sikh becomes King of Australian mafia. These are the real issues we are plagued with.

Characterisation This is one area where Mani, Anurag and others really need to work upon. I mean, why take pains in writing the character graph of Dukey Baana when people are happy with Aarush; why write Meghna and Preeti when people actually want bimbos like Deepika Padukone and Lara Dutta, why sketch Amar Mathur and Beera when Riteish Deshmukh is able to make people laugh at his stupid antics? Who is watching the growth and maturity of a character! People are busy sniggering at the immaturity of the 3 hunks with a baby, and the reverse growth of stars like Akshay Kumar. And then, someone like Anurag comes along to give us Rananjay SIngh. What! Is that a real name? What happened to the Raj’s and Rahul’s and Gupta’s and Malhotra’s. Give the characters a real name, please!

Locations & Cinematography Why does someone like Mani Ratnam go to all these beautiful locales in North-East (Dil Se) or the Malshej Ghat and Athirapalli Falls (Raavan)? Why did Anurag Kashyap make a movie in backdrop of Rajasthan in Gulaal? To bring a level of authenticity to the story-telling! But who needs that? People are happy watching an entire cast camped and cramped in a rented mansion (Housefull, SiK, Welcome). So, what if the mansion only has a few rooms, a big dining hall, a grate, huge portraits of prententious people and some make-believe classic paintings. We want to see that, nothing else. Please don’t show us serene environments, breath-taking views and sceneries of visual pleasure. We neither want authenticity nor aesthetics. We are not concerned about how scenes are shot because we are not here to appreciate beauty and splendor.

Music & Lyrics Someone really ought to stop Gulzar from penning songs. What were the lyrics of Satrangi Re, Ranjha Ranjha and Thok De Killi? We don’t want songs that make sense, force us to think, create visual imageries. And Piyush Mishra be damned with the Ranaji song and his stupid take on Ye Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaye To Kya Hai. See, that’s exactly what everyone these days are telling, ye duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai! So, please stop penning such outdated songs and give space to the new breed lyricists who say ‘O Girl You Are Mine’ and ‘Hush Hush Hush, Papa Sleeping’. See, now these sound like some real song and are so convenient to sms our friends. And what was Rahman trying to prove with his tunes in Dil Se and Raavan and many others; that he is Mozart From Madras! Has he not heard of Pritam and his ilk who struggle day and night to create original tunes which leave a lasting impression! With whom is Rahman, Vishal and others competing? Take a break dude! We want songs like Bhootni Ke, Bebo Mai Bebo and not something silly like Behne De, Dil To Bachcha hai Ji and Aarambh Hai Prachand!

Direction This definitely is the most over-rated job. I mean, any Tom Dick and forget it, can become a director. We have had action directors and stuntmen become directors, choreographers turned into directors, photographers and ad-film makers took to direction; and sometimes we have had entire movie being ghost-directed. So, who the hell needs the sophistication of Mani Ratnam or the detailing of Anurag Kashyap or the perfection of a Bhansali or the hardwork of Ashutosh Gowariker, please call on a spot boy to take the next shot.

Production/Finance This has to be the toughest job of all. I mean, if you approach Nadiadwala with script of Swades or Gulaal, then he will need so much time to mull over it because the movies are so unchallenging and silly. And what about all the criticism he will have to face for a good product. Its so much easier to produce a ‘Housefull’ where you have your friends and relatives on the sets having a party; my God, its such a stress-buster. No wonder SRK was so relieved when he produced OSO & MHN but was so tensed about Chak De and Swades because he was not producing such tacky works.

Actor/Actresses The last piece in the jigsaw, did I say last! They ought to be the last, but they are often the first ones to be onboarded in a project. Everything else revolves around them. With my limited knowledge, I assumed that a bound script, location finalisation, camera angles are decided first; and then actors/actresses come into picture. But no, actors make the movie their personal statement; often changing lines and locations to suit their needs. After all, its so difficult to extract good performances from Nandita Das and Seema Biswas; but its so much easier to cast Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif. Oh! please don’t wonder and let me explain. Whatever be the movie, the set, the location; they are consistently bad. They can give you the same expression in the bedroom/bathroom/drawing-room with such perfection, 100% strike rate. They don’t even have to get into the skin of the character, they are the character. Imagine how difficult it would be if actors got so intense that they cannot get the character out of their head. Its so much easier to cast Tushar Kapoor and Fardeen Khan who can walk in and out of characters as if they were changing clothes.

Coming back to the quote on statistics, what it reveals is the changing taste buds of the audience and what it conceals is a dangerous trend of dumbing down the audience as they lap up bad movies without blinking.

A Question To The Movie Critics And Reviewers I know you guys did not approve of Kambakht Ishq and Housefull and gave it 2 or 2.5*, maybe more. But, didn’t Dil Se and Raavan also get the same stars? So, don’t you see any difference between Raavan and Housefull! Was Raavan all that bad or was Housefull all that good? I am actually amazed that all the great performances in Housefull was neglected, all the fantastic music and lyrics went unobserved, all the pains taken by the film crew to shoot in such difficult location of the various bedrooms of the mansion was ignored. And in Raavan, we promptly noticed camera slip-ups, shoddy performances and the carelessness with which certain scenes were shot. I mean, how can you compare an auditorium filled with intellectual dignitaries rolling with the effect of laughing gas and a silly shot where Ash is just falling down a waterfall, clinging onto a branch and then slipping again; how tacky! Shouldn’t both movies have been reviewed without prejudice and bias, based on their individual merits and using the same yardstick. Then how did both these movies get the same kind of rating?

A Question To The Movie Go-ers Do we watch a movie to have a good time and nothing else? Even if we are looking at entertainment, was Housefull all that entertaining and Dil Se all that dull and boring. Did the movie Welcome make more sense than Gulaal? Why don’t we watch movies which go beyond the obvious, which makes a point and brings an issue to light. Or are we merely looking for cheap humor and titillation, hollow entertainment and slipshod quick movies.

And Finally Why should someone make a Raavan and be lambasted when he can easily make a Housefull and get away?

http://passionforcinema.com/why-make-raava...make-housefull/

[Annihilator]

^Nice article and it speaks the truth on some levels. The critics in India were way too harsh and violently hateful in their criticisms of Raavan. But the Hindi audience did not accept the film so it failed. Raavan as a film was not easily digestible to its audience. The Hindi audience has not matured or changed enough to accept experimental films like Raavan so these type of films will be met with rejection 95% of the time. Sometimes the audience will tell you that up is down and down is up. It doesn't matter. One must always work within a system to find consistent success. When the audience changes the system will change!

I really enjoyed Raavan and wished it had been a success. But I will admit that Mani made some big mistakes with screenplay, editing, and with the high budget(and selling price) for Raavan. Based on Raavan's unconventional concept and content as a film it never would have made back its huge budget or selling price to be profitable. Raavan was not budgeted according to its content. That flopped the film before it released. Raavan should have only been made in Hindi on a low budget to at least give it a shot at being a profitable film. But the bottom line is that Raavan did not cater to a mass Hindi audience.

The audience has the final say which is why its important for lead actors to make sure they do more well written commercial films that cater to the target audience they are making their films for. And even meaningful unconventional films need to be suited to the audience its made for. I enjoy commercial films that entertain & I also enjoy meaningful unconventional films. A lead actor can do both and the audience can like both kinds of films. One is not better or more important than the other. Commercial films & meaningful films are a must for actors. But all films need good SCREENPLAYS, to be properly budgeted for their content, & to cater to the target audience! All films need to entertain on a basic level!

[AishAbhilov]

^ You said it, Annihilator!

[AishAbhilov]

The Dvd comes out August 10, 2010! Time to Pre-order!

[Annihilator]

^That early? I guess that means that Mani might not add any or most of the cut footage as extras with the DVD. I hope I'm wrong, but if the DVD is coming this early then I doubt it will be a very comprehensive DVD loaded with extras, interviews, outtakes, etc. I do hope Mani adds all of those extras to the Raavan DVD so it can be a real collector's item.

[AishAbhilov]

^That's what I said! That early! I do hope he does add all the extras in the DVD. It deserves to be a Real collector's item. I'm really looking forward to behind the scenes, deleted scenes, and commentary!

[Annihilator]

http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/...uly/july221.php

Colors to premiere Raavan on 1 August


Indiantelevision.com Team

(27 July 2010 6:00 pm)


MUMBAI: Colors is set to premiere Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer Raavan on 1 August in India, US and UK.

The movie will be aired at 8 pm on Sunday in India and UK, while US viewers can watch the movie at 3 pm on Aapka Colors (Colors’ US version).

Mani Ratnam’s Raavan was released on 18 June, but despite breathtaking cinematography, ace music and performances, it failed to do magic at the box office.

Speaking about the world television premiere, Viacom18 chief commercial officer and head - international business Gaurav Gandhi said, “With a fascinating line-up of the big blockbusters to be showcased over the next 6-8 months on the channel, we are confident that our viewers would be entertained and delighted.”

Prior to Raavan, Colors has premiered movies like Kites, Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani, and Blue shortly after their theatrical release.

Raavan revolves around Beera (Abhishek Bachchan), who is a local Robin Hood for the tribals; nevertheless he is a law breaker. He kidnaps Ragini (Aishwarya) who is a cop’s (Dev, played by Southern star Vikram) wife, in order to avenge a personal grouse.

[Annihilator]

Raavan/kites : Respective multiplex business after five weeks

Though i was absent during Raavan days, But i publish the opening day report which was good opening IMO, This is complete chart of multiplex business for fiscal period of one year ended July, 2010. Raavan stands well above kites, reflecting my theory of good opening day [otherwise this sort of figure is not possible if opening was such bad as painted by media/trade persons]. Will come out with actual figures of Raavan very soon, though movie is flop for sure, but opening and overall business should be rightly accessed.

http://bollybusiness.wordpress.com/2010/08...ter-five-weeks/

[Annihilator]

Put Spencer's post in this thread as well

Raavan/Raavanan at film festivals:

@onlynikil: Mani Ratnam,Mrs.Suhasini,Vikram,Abhishek & Aiswarya rai Bachchan will be attending the Venice film festival

@onlynikil: Mani Ratnam to be honoured Jaegar-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award at Venice International Film Festival on sep 6th

@onlynikil: Raavan (Hindi) & Raavanan (Tamil) will be taking part in PUSAN International Film Festival in October 2010

[Annihilator]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/enterta...how/6468496.cms

Ash-Abhi to miss 'Raavan' screening

IANS, Aug 31, 2010, 04.57pm IST

Bollywood couple Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan won't be able to attend the screening of their film "Raavan" at the upcoming 67th Venice Film Festival, due to prior commitments with their brand endorsements.

" Raavanan" and "Raavan" - the Tamil and the Hindi versions of the Mani Ratnam film - and Anurag Kashyap's " That Girl In Yellow Boots" will be screened at the festival, starting Wednesday.

"Aishwarya and Abhishek are not going for the Venice Film Festival as reported in some media outlets. The festival falls on the same dates on which they have previously committed. Aishwarya is going for an event for Longines (as she is the brand ambassador), while Abhishek will be busy with a shoot for Omega in Italy," said a source close to the actors.

"There are other film festivals too - Doha and Pusan - where Abhishek and Aishwarya are being invited, to showcase their film or even for individual honours. But the duo will decide which ones to attend according to their schedules," added the source.