RAVANA

hindi/tamil/ telegu

cast: Abhishek, Aishwarya, Govinda, Vikram

cast: Vikram, Aishwarya, Priyamani and Prithviraj

music: A R Rahman

directed by Mani Ratnam

status : preproduction

Here is a project that is getting interesting by the minute. Mani Rathnam's next shall be a contemporary take on the Ramayana and the buzz is already strong with Abhishek and Aishwarya being roped in to play the Sita-Ram pair in the movie.

However the film titled RAVANA will have tamil superstar Vikram playing the title role. That must be something to have 'chiyan' Vikram playing the title role that features the Bachchans.

But interestingly in the tamil version, Vikram will be donning the role of Ram. So it is kinda a double whammy for Vikram.

In the tamil version though Prithviraaj is taking a leap into the big league playing the villain. Priyamani also plays an important role in the movie.

The film is also slated to have entertainer no.1 Govinda too. That too comes as a surprise since Govinda has always kept himself away from the serious cinema inspite of his versatile skills. Probably playing the modern role of Hanuman must have stirred up his spirituality.

The casting hype does not end there. IT just gets bigger with the news that Ranbir Kapoor is also being roped in...which definitely looks like Laxman's role.

The latest news regarding the movie is that Aishwarya Rai will be playing the role of a classical singer, for which she is scheduled to take regular classes as a preparation. And probably Jaya Bachchan also might come with her own tips, for she is still known for her role as a singer in the movie ABHIMAAN.

The film is being made under the Madras Talkies banner, and expectations are just soaring with the fact that AR Rahman shall score the music while the brilliant PC Sriram will take care of the cinematography. The film shall be a multilingual and to be released in three versions- Hindi, Tamil and Telegu.

The film is scheduled to start shooting by October this year.