Critic Reviews

• Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter

  Pan-Indian saga with epic sweep, intense emotion and gorgeous images.

• Rachel Saltz, New York Times

  Artful but not arty, Mr. Ratnam, whose films include Dil Se and Guru, delivers the goods.

• Lou Lumenick, New York Post

  Not unusually for a Bollywood movie, Raavan combines beautiful photography, over-the-top acting, cheesy special effects and musical numbers that stretch things out well beyond the two-hour mark.

• Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

  Ratnam's pace is steadfastly brisk, and his film is replete with dizzying camerawork, myriad complications, violent mayhem, broad humor, usual musical interludes, a cliffhanging climactic confrontation and a finish that strikes a note of poignancy.

• David Hughes, Empire Magazine

  While it's hard to see why Villain was so feted by the Japanese academy, the moody, social-realist vibe makes this worth a look.

• Simon Foster, sbs.com.au

  A.R. Rahman's omni-present score is as overbearing as most other aspects of this overwrought melodrama.

• Poonam Joshi, Film4

  Only director Mani Ratnam could have the dexterity to ascribe the story of The Ramayana to a raw, modernist setting and yet remain faithful to the original story.

• Aaron Hillis, L.A. Weekly

  The love triangle is as tediously underwhelming as the slo-mo action, but the actors, costumes and lush mountainsides are easy on the eye.

• Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru

  An exhilarating and thrilling adventure brimming with lush, breathtaking visuals, lively musical numbers and a captivating love triangle.

• Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com

  Very satisfying entertainment for the eyes, ears and heart - mythic romance and action adventure to a throbbing beat.

• Frank Lovece, Film Journal International

  Dark, psychologically trenchant modern retelling of the ancient epic The Ramayana, with a police inspector's wife held captive in a jungle by a near-mythic tribal leader.

• Cath Clarke, Guardian [UK]

  Bollywood golden couple Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan star in this absurdly extravagant melodrama, rife with cliches, song-and-dance showstoppers, macho action sequences and lush tourist board-approved landscapes.

• Adam Keleman, Slant Magazine

  Somewhat succeeding as a specimen of pulpy, viscerally lavishing moviemaking, but largely weighed down by overly sentimental subplots, mostly thin characters, and an aural onslaught of a score.

Read all 13 critic reviews