Ramayana Review: A God Among Men

Director: Nitesh Tiwari | Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Yash

It’s been billed as the most magnificent cinematic epic to come out of India, with authentic storytelling and spectacular special effects. Ramayana is the latest interpretation of the epic poem about Maryada Puryoshattaman, his dutiful wife Sita and his loving brother Lakshman. There are 300 Ramayanas, as AK Ramanujan wrote, and each resonates somewhere.

Nitesh Tiwari tries his best, giving us a Ravana (Yash) who is powerful and vengeful but also wronged; Sita (Sai Pallavi), trained in warfare but also submissive in devotion to her husband; Ram (Ranbir Kapoor), a man but also an avatar of Vishnu; and Lakshman (Ravie Dubey) a loving brother with a quick temper. Ramayana is a living, breathing story for us, not a museum piece to reimagine or recast according to the trends.

My quibble is with its excessive reliance on CGI when filmmakers are globally moving towards practical effects. Understandably CGI has arrived late in India and excites filmmakers. But we don’t need artificial undergrowth, we need real emotions in a tale with exile, rage, loyalty, redemption. Part 1 ends just as Hanuman leaps on to the screen. Perhaps he will elevate Part 2.