Mani's best

I had high expectations from Raavanan. Now having watched it, obviously since the final product does not meet the expectation set I feel slightly letdown. But surprised by wide spread criticism of the movie, I began wondering if this movie would be judged differently by future audiences if released say 5 years down the line. Would the reaction be more favorable? How would it compare to all Mani's other works.

There is no doubt Mani Ratnam is a pathbreaking director. He has an uncanny knack of understanding the pulse of the audience and delivers accordingly. But if you look closely, you'll notice that not many of his movies stand the test of time.

Here is my ranking of all Mani Ratnam movies till date-

1. Iruvar
2. Thalapathy
3. Nayakan
4. Roja
5. Agni Nakshatram
6. Alai Payuthey
7. Bombay
8. Mouna Raagam
9. Guru & Raavanan/ Raavan (Tied)
11. Geethanjali
12. Thiruda Thiruda
13. Pagal Nilavu
14. Ayudha Ezhuthu / Yuva
15. Kannathil Muthamittal
16. Anjali

I dont think too many would disagree with the top 4 movies, although Iruvar could be questionable choice to some. And maybe the rankings would differ. But by and large, the top 4 define the essence of Mani Ratnam school of filmaking.

The rest if seen hindsight are quite topical in nature. For e.g I must have watched Agni Natchataram probably 10-15 times and at one considered it to be one of the best Tamil movies produced.
But watching it the other day on youtube, it just seemed so poorly directed with its jerky editing, its none too subtle camera work which distracted me from the story. And mind you, this was pioneering work from P.C.Sreeram

So that being said, it could be possible the reverse maybe true for Raavanan and that once the dust is settled and people have forgotten all the immense hype surrounding it, maybe, just maybe it could be judged for what is really worth.

Nav

P.S. I think the same could be said for any filmaker. Indian or non-Indian. Think any Subhash Ghai movie could fall into the above category. Just imagine how his blockbusters like Ram Lakhan, Saudagar and Hero etc would fare with today's audiences.