I walked out of Ramayana at the 75-minute mark, and I want to be clear about what drove me out… because the first hour is genuinely good.
The opening half-hour on Ravana is gripping, even if some creature design wasn’t to my taste, and the stretch on Ram works too. The BGM and VFX are solid, if not outstanding. 8/10
Then the wheels come off. I cannot fathom how this Sita casting happened – an actress with no star power, no charisma and, worst of all, thin acting chops for the single most important female role in Indian mythology. It’s the worst casting call I’ve seen in Bollywood, and yes, I’m ranking it below Saif in Adipurush.
Just when I was processing that, the wedding song arrived, sounding lifted from a B-grade underworld movie, or a rehash of Kun Faya, or maybe his 30 year old song ‘Enna Solla…”. Completely out of place for a Hindu mythological! A. R. Rahman has been coasting for years, but this is poor even by his recent standards.
I’ll return when I’ve calmed down. 6/10 overall for that first hour.
Where to watch
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