Blame it on the editing. Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan did exactly that on the weekend. In his tweets with Filmfare editor Jitesh Pillaai, the concerned father expressed the view that it was the editing of Mani Ratnam’s Raavan that led to the inconsistency of the performance of the protagonist — Abhishek Bachchan. Amitabh implied that had the film not been so “sadly edited”, Abhishek’s erratic behaviour (and all that jazz about his 10 heads) would have been easier for the common man to comprehend. One of the Big B’s tweets read: “Lot of merited film edited out, causing inconsistent performance and narrative, but what presentation!’’
However, trade specialists don’t seem to be in tandem with the legend’s views. Says trade guru Taran Adarsh, “The film (Hindi) opened to a weak response. The figures have just come in this Monday morning. It has collected only 45% of what Kites and Raajneeti collected over the opening weekend. It has fared very average in the UK too.’’
Taran who has been following Amitabh on the micro-blogging site says, “When a film flops everything about it seems at fault. It is very easy to blame the editing. But, according to me, Raavan failed because the script was too linear. It was stretched. If the editing is consistent, it can make a film slicker; it can make a performance look better. But inconsistent editing can’t save a bad performance. In my opinion, Aishwarya was good in the film, however Abhishek lacked the maturity for this role. If the editing was bad, then even Ash’s performance would have got diluted.’’
The other trade consultant Amod Mehra, adds, “Everything about Raavan except the cinematography was mediocre.’’ He feels the performances of all the lead actors was strictly below average. “When a film goes wrong people are looking for various factors to put the blame on. But the fact is that Raavan has failed. Mani couldn’t justify Abhishek’s character well. And he made Beera look like a lunatic muttering to himself.’’
A staunch supporter of the editor of Raavan, Sreekar Prasad, says, “Sreekar has won 11 National Awards. So to blame his editing is the lamest excuse one can throw up. When Mr Bachchan spoke about Raavan being sadly edited, he probably felt that the length went awry and some scenes got left out as a result of which Abhishek’s performance as the 10-headed Beera came out looking half-baked.’’
Whatever the implications, the debate continues. Unfortunately, Bollywood feels that Mani’s labour of love doesn’t merit the debate either. It is reportedly a dead duck.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/News-Interviews/Big-B-in-Raavan-blame-game/articleshow/6074492.cms
