Raavan

It's time for the modern-day version of 'Ramayana' to unfold this Friday, exactly two weeks after 'Mahabharata'. The very thought of watching an epic in the present-day milieu only enhances the curiosity for the film. And if the present-day adaptation of 'Ramayana' is helmed by a master storyteller [Mani Ratnam], the moviegoer should, and must expect the moon. Nothing less would suffice. After all, a Mani Ratnam film is not merely an experience, it's an event!

Mani Ratnam, who has penned the screenplay of RAAVAN, models his characters on the lines of 'Ramayana':

* An upright cop, the punisher, the law/Lord Rama [Vikram];

* His doting wife/Goddess Sita [Aishwarya Rai Bachchan];

* The lieutenant he befriends in the forest/Hanuman [Govinda];

* His confidante/Lakshmana [Nikhil Dwivedi];

* The antagonist's sister, who triggers off the war/Surpanakha [Priyamani};