Wikipedia
Raavanan (English: Ravana) is a 2010 Indian Tamil thriller film co written, co produced, and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film features Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Prithviraj in the lead roles, with a supporting cast led by Karthik, Prabhu and Priyamani. The film was also made simultaneously in Hindi as Raavan, with a slightly different cast. Furthermore, the film was dubbed and released in Telugu as Villain, with all three versions releasing simultaneously on 18 June 2010.
The film follows the crux of the epic Ramayana, with a ruthless police officer on the chase to find a tribal leader and lawbreaker, who has kidnapped his wife. Veeraiya, the kidnapper and his motive for the kidnap has been led on by the death of his sister, as a result of police custodial torture and brutal rape. The film explores the search by the officer, whilst exploring the changing emotions that the three protagonists experience with each other, leading to a riveting climax, situated in the jungle.
Raavanan was announced in February 2008, amidst much hype of the celebrated director, Mani Ratnam's return to Tamil films, whilst Vikram's and Aishwarya Rai's selection in the lead roles, creating more anticipation. Shooting began soon after, and took place in various locations with a record number of extras in areas including Chalakudy, Kerala and Ooty, Tamil Nadu amongst other regions throughout India. The film won positive reviews, and performed well at the box office.
Raavanan is the soundtrack album to the 2010 Indian Tamil film of the same name, written and directed by Mani Ratnam. It was released on May 5, 2010 by Sony Music. The music and background score were composed by Academy Award winning composer A. R. Rahman with lyrics penned Vairamuthu and Mani Ratnam. The same soundtrack was used for the Hindi version of the film, titled Raavan, which was launched on April 24. It was also dubbed and used in the Telugu version of the film, titled Villain. "Raavanan" was Rahman's second collaboration with actor Vikram after Pudhiya Mannargal (1994).
The soundtrack features 6 songs composed by A. R. Rahman and lyrics penned by Vairamuthu, except for the song "Veera", which was penned by Mani Ratnam himself. Five additional songs, which were featured in the movie was released as a collectors's edition special pack on 18 November 2010. One of these tracks Naan Varuvaen was later released as a music video titled Changing Seasons. A. R. Rahman himself wrote the lyrics for this track and made an impromptu performance during the audio launch. The choreography of the songs were done by Ganesh Acharya, Brinda, Shobhana and Astad Deboo. The soundtrack is especially noted for the use of rich instruments, Indian as well as Middle Eastern. Several new singers were introduced through this film.
The lyrics for Villain was penned by late Veturi Sundararama Murthy and for Raavan by Gulzar. The albums were released by Sony Music and T-Series respectively.