Indian Epic Ramayana: Movie Analysis

Ramayana: The Epic is an animated Indian movie directed by Chetan Desai. It is based on the Indian epic Ramayana, an epic about the adventures of Lord Rama saving his wife Sita from the evil hands of Ravana, the king of Lanka that ignited a war between Lord Rama and Ravana. The Ramayana: The Epic was released in October 2010 by Warner Bros. India. The retelling of the epic is outstanding, they packed the longest epic in the world in 1 hour and 37 minutes which is a tough task. It is the best animation movie produced by an Indian studio based on an Indian epic.

The major characters in the movie are Rama, which was voice acted by Manoj Bajpayee, Sita, that was voice acted by Juhi Chawla, King Ravana, by Ashutosh Rana, Hanuman, by Mukesh Rishi, and Lakshman, by Rishabh Shukla. Each character in the movie has an important role in the story. The narration in the story fits the movie perfectly because it helps the audience to understand every part of the movie. The setting, on the other hand, portrays the religious nature of India. The animation of the setting in this movie is what I love the most, it matches the story and it fits with the characters. The climax was revealed during the war when King Ravana became a giant and will kill Rama, Rama used his bow and arrow to shoot Ravana’s weak spot. The animated movie is interesting especially if you haven’t read the Indian epic Ramayana.

The central goal of the movie is to educate the people about the theme of the Indian epic Ramayana. The Ramayana’s main theme is all about loyalty to the family, Lakshman left his wife and his family to be with his elder brother in the forest. It tells us about the purity of the relationship in one’s family. Ramayana symbolizes the real importance of family.

I didn’t like how the characters were portrayed in this movie because the animation of the characters looked like they were dolls. The acting of the characters is good, but the voice acting was not that good, especially in the scene where Rama yelled “Sita!” The settings in the movie were outstanding, the surroundings, the backgrounds, and the atmosphere complements each other giving the film perfect scenery. The costumes were suitable for the characters, it gave the characters more meaning of what they truly are, especially for King Ravana, wearing a golden breastplate, golden helmet with large horns, tattoo on its forehead, and rings suited for an evil king. The special effects matched the scenes in the movie perfectly. The coronation of Rama is where I love the added special effect, when Rama is being crowned a bright light is being added into the crown and the background music added a lot of power to the scene that made the audience mesmerized. I like how Chetan Desai retold the story by using animations that will entertain young people, at the same time educate them. The speed of the movie is normal, but in the climactic battle between Rama and Ravana, Ravana died with one shot in the weak spot from Rama which made it feel like killing Ravana is as simple as counting from 1 to 10. The storytelling is straightforward that can be understood by most people.

Watching the movie “Ramayana: The Epic” is fun and it tells us what the Indian epic Ramayana is all about, it teaches us loyalty to the family and it teaches us about the purity of the relationship in one’s family. This is by far the best Indian animation movie for me, the effort the team made in making this movie is outstanding. Rewatching the movie is always as fresh as watching it for the first time. This is a must-watch especially for kids who want to learn the Indian epic Ramayana.