Ace director Mani Ratnam's new release Raavan (Raavanan in Tamil and Villain in Telugu) grossed Rs. 20 crore worldwide on its opening day, its co-producer Reliance BIG Pictures said. All three versions were released simultaneously in about 2,200 screens worldwide on Friday.
The film is getting rave reviews from the audience and critics alike and the New York Times recently remarked it as “a critics’ pick”, a distinction never earned before by an Indian film.
Despite all denials from the Raavanan team, the movie is indeed an adaptation of the epic poem Ramayanam, but has been restricted only to the abduction of Seetha episode and some related minor incidents.
The star cast of the film includes Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Southern star Vikram in the Hindi version, while the Tamil version Raavanan features Vikram, Aishwarya and Prithviraj. The Tamil version was dubbed in Telugu to reach a wider audience. The music for all versions is composed by Oscar winner A.R. Rahman and the cinematography is by Santosh Sivan.