Development During the making of his 2007 drama
Guru starring
Abhishek Bachchan and
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan,
Mani Ratnam had finalised a script for his next directorial venture titled
Lajjo. Based on a short story by
Ismat Chughtai, it was a musical period film set in the desert and was to star
Aamir Khan and
Kareena Kapoor in the lead. Though the film was slated to go on floors after the release of the former, there were reports of a fall-out between Ratnam and Khan due to creative differences. While cinematographer
P. C. Sreeram denied the reports, the film's would-be lyricist
Gulzar said there were actually problems with acquiring the copyright of the story, and composer
A. R. Rahman even confirmed to having completed 80% of the film score. Yet, the project was put on the back burner for reasons unknown. Following the critical and commercial success of
Guru, Ratnam announced his next film in February 2008. A modern-day retelling of the mythological epic
Ramayana, the film again features the real life couple in the lead. The film was initially planned to be made only in Hindi and the idea for the Tamil version came later. In January 2009, while the film was in the making, it was further decided to dub the Tamil version to Telugu making it a tri-lingual. While the film was yet to be titled, it was widely reported in the media that the Tamil version was titled
Ashokavanam in reference to the place where Sita was held captive by Ravana. Subsequently, the film was titled
Raavan in Hindi and
Raavanan in Tamil. While the plot is inspired by
Ramayana, the story is narrated from Ravana's perspective making him the protagonist. The film is centered on the 'Ashokavanam' episode where Ravana kidnaps Sita and keeps her in Asokavanam. Later Rama ventures to save his wife and bring her back.
Casting Bachchan and Vikram were roped in for the contrasting leads. The editing was done by
Sreekar Prasad. Rai's costumes were exclusively designed by fashion designer
Sabyasachi Mukherjee. Choreography was by
Ganesh Acharya, Brinda,
Shobana, and Astad Deboo.
Peter Hein and Shyam Koushal choreographed the action sequences and
Samir Chanda took care of production design.
Filming Raavan was shot in numerous locations around India including the forests of
Karnataka (Tumkur),
Kerala (
Athirappilly Falls),
Ooty,
Jhansi,
Kolkata,
Mahabaleshwar and in the Malshej Ghats in
Maharashtra. Principal photography commenced in October 2008, in the forests near
Kochi, Kerala. A few scenes were filmed at
Athirappilly Falls, Ratnam's favourite location. Incidentally, he has shot for the songs 'Jiya Jale' in
Dil Se.. and 'Barso Re' in
Guru at the same location. Forest officials banned the shooting at
Malayattoor, an eco-tourism centre, for violating rules and constructing temporary huts, delaying the shoot for 11 days until the issues were resolved on 22 October 2008, while laying down reworked rules. The second leg of the shooting at
Ooty that began in December 2008 was also delayed as local cab drivers protested the use of film federation (FEFSI) vehicles which affected their business, forcing a dejected Ratnam to call off the shoot temporarily and move on to
Hogenakkal Falls. In February 2009, the crew advanced to
Kolkata where the song 'Kalvare' was shot by the banks of
Hooghly at
Agarpara. Later, as the shooting resumed and progressed at Ooty, Ratnam fell ill in April 2009 and was hospitalised at
Apollo Hospitals, causing a further delay of 47 days until filming resumed in June 2009 following his recovery. As the numerous delays affected his other projects, DOP Manikandan walked out in May and was replaced by Santosh Sivan. By July, the crew moved back to Kerala, to reshoot a few scenes at
Chalakudy as Ratnam was reportedly unsatisfied after seeing the rushes. This time around, heavy rains played spoilsport leading to another delay in filming. Moreover, when an elephant brought for the shoot ran amok killing the mahout, the Animal Welfare Board served a show cause notice to the production company (Madras Talkies) for not taking permission to use elephants. The film began its last schedule in August 2009 at the
Malshej Ghats in
Maharashtra where the climax sequence was shot, the final encounter taking place on a wooden bridge. Production designer Samir Chanda built three identical bridges to facilitate the scene to be captured from different angles. Though initially planned to be built either in Sri Lanka, Australia or South Africa, the bridge was constructed in
Mumbai to reduce costs. While bad weather and heavy rains disrupted shoot for a few days, the forest department filed cases against some crew members for trespassing. The film went into post-production by the end of 2009. Numerous action sequences were performed by the actors. The actors suffered from real cuts and bruises so they didn't need make up. The stunts were directed by
Mani Ratnam and choreographed by
Peter Hein, who received a Filmfare action award for the Hindi versions of
Ghajini and
Anniyan. For his introduction scene, the protagonist has to jump from a 90-foot high cliff near the Hogenakkal Falls into the river below. This risky dive was performed by a body double, Balram, a
Bangalore based former national diving champion.
Kalarippayattu, a martial art form originating from Kerala, was also featured in the film. Sunil Kumar, a Kalari gym trainer from
Kozhikode, trained the actors. Dancer Astad Deboo choreographed a passionate chase scene and a
tandav dance between Abhishek and Aishwarya for the film. == Music ==