The screening of Mani Ratnam's Raavan has resumed in eastern Sri Lanka despite threats by an unidentified group demanding the boycott of the bilingual film, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai.A cinema hall planning to screen Raavan was torched last week by the group, which is protesting Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya and director Ratnam's decision to stay away from the IIFA awards held in Colombo after South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce called for a boycott of the event.
But the National Film Corporation here said theatres in Batticaloa resumed screening Raavan despite the warning by the group, which has asked the theatre owners not to screen films produced in Tamil Nadu in a move to hit back at Indian film stars who boycotted the IIFA awards ceremony in Colombo.
The show was stopped after a giant screen at the Shanthi Cinema in Batticaloa was torched a day before the Tamil version of Raavan was to be shown.
The group had sent hand bills to cinema owners, saying that the boycott of the IIFA event by Indian artistes had brought disrepute to Sri Lanka and therefore retaliation was just and appropriate.
However, a film corporation official said necessary precautions have been taken to prevent a repetition of such incidents, the Daily Mirror reported today.
"The group, which threatened the cinema owners in Batticaloa, has been arrested after we intervened in the matter," the Film Corporation official said.
"When the incident occurred, I informed the Kathankudi police (in Batticaloa) and Film Corporation about what happened," the manager Kandasamy Murugesu said.
Amitabh Bachchan, son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya, had given the glitzy event a miss, citing work commitments. The Bachchan family's decision to skip the event had raised many eyebrows as the mega star is the ambassador for IIFA.
The event was boycotted by the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce as a mark of protest against the alleged mistreatment of Tamils in Sri Lanka.
The film industry in the state of Tamil Nadu, which shares close cultural and religious links with the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka, stayed away from the event with superstars Kamal Haasan, Rajnikanth and Ratnam also giving it a miss.
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A cinema hall planning to screen Raavanan was torched here amidst protests against the film owing to its star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and director Mani Ratnam's decision to stay away from the IIFA awards held in Sri Lanka.
The much-anticipated RAAVAN did not fetch the desired start on Friday. While certain big city plexes opened to a 50% to 60% to 70% response, the response at smaller centre plexes and also single screens was much lower, in 20% to 25% to 30% range. Even in Mumbai, which contributes heavily from multiplexes, the occupancy was extremely erratic. In the recent past, films like HOUSE FULL, BADMAASH COMPANY, KITES and RAAJNEETI had opened to a terrific start and the industry was expecting a similar start for RAAVAN. But the reports of RAAVAN -- the audience feedback specifically -- is extremely mixed, tilting towards negative.
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!
Final word? RAAVAN comes with the baggage of humungous expectations, mainly for the one name attached to it: Mani Ratnam. Even though comparisons with the genius film-maker's earlier accomplishments like MOUNA RAAGAM, NAYAGAN, AGNI NAKSHATRAM, GEETHANJALI, ANJALI, ROJA, BOMBAY and GURU are sacrilegious since all belong to diverse genres, RAAVAN is nowhere close to those epics. The benchmarks only get higher and higher every time Mani Ratnam makes a film and RAAVAN, unfortunately, is a step down. Sorry, several steps down! 
Also, his makeup and also the shabby avtaars of his family/henchmen is not something that makes them looks menacing. In fact, it makes the entire gang look repulsive. 
I've admired Abhishek's work in Mani Ratnam's earlier films YUVA and GURU, but despite putting his best foot forward, for some strange, inexplicable reason, Abhishek doesn't look convincing for the part. Also, the dialogue delivered by him aren't coherent at times. Aishwarya is wonderful, looking ethereal and enacting her part with conviction. Vikram is first-rate, although the role isn't substantial enough. Govinda fails to create any impact whatsoever. Amongst the plethora of actors, Nikhil Dwivedi [a revelation; very good], Ravi Kishan [nice] and Priyamani [perfect] stand out. 
He has been making movies for almost three decades and is known as a maverick. But Mani Ratnam says every time he starts working on a new film, he has to struggle to find the right way to can the shots.
Reliance BIG Pictures and Madras Talkies' forthcoming film RAAVAN will release in approximately 2200 screens worldwide on Friday, June 18, making it the first Indian film to release simultaneously in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions.
We don’t know what’s bothering Abhishek Bachchan. Is it the pressure of living under the shadow of powerful family members or the fact that his career still has not gone places despite hits like “Dostana”?
