Ravrambha (2023)

Ravrambha is yet another lacklustre below average period drama set in the times of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s growing Maratha empire. This time around it feels like the makers aren’t even trying to tell compelling stories. The whole film is just a passage of events with literally no structure or form. Touted as a period love story, it fails in both the departments. It is based on multiple sources out of which the main source is one of the chapters from the famous Novel Ballads of Marathas. The film is set in the pre coronation era of Shivaji Maharaj’s (Shantanu Moghe) empire. The film starts on Raigad’s Takmak Tok (an unstable cliff). A competition has been arranged for the maawla’s providing them with a chance to join Maharaj’s army if they win. The challenge is to make your horse stand on two legs at the Takmak Tok’s edge. Raavji (Om Bhutkar), a young boy from Daivapur, completes the challenge without a flinch and utter ease. He instantly wins the trust of Sarnobat Prataprao (Ashok Samarth), the chief commander. When taken to Maharaj’s shrine, Maharaj ask Raavji to prove himself with some other talent that he may possess, Raavji instantly throws a Porcupine Quill towards a flower tree and the flower falls in front of the feet of Maharaj as an offering. Maharaj then declare Raavji as Sarnobat’s personal bodyguard and bless him with a Gold Kada. Raavji then returns to his village, where Rambha (Monalisa Bagal), has been waiting for him anxiously. Then we are introduced to Jalindar (Santosh Juvekar) who has a lust on Rambha and constantly forces himself on her in the absence of Raavji. The film then moves forward with how their lovestory manages to survive between all the politics of saving the Swarajya from the hands of Behlol Khan and the traitor Jalindar. Coming to the technical aspects of the film, the only department that stands out slightly above others is the sound department. The background music and the title song are the only bearable thing about this one. The story is a complete mess. Touted as a childhood love story, the film doesn’t have a single childhood romance scene between the leads. How is the audience supposed to even fall in love with the pair. The characters are introduced with little to no background of their past lives. The direction by Anup Jagdale is a disaster. The junior artists are seen laughing looking in the camera as the climax fight is on. This even feels rubbish while writing. The film is also sprinkled with some corny dialogues of swarajya and sacrifice. The whole story is a complete mess with the director failing to find the balance between the politics and the love story. The runtime of 130 minutes feels like a day long. Coming to the cast of the film. Om Bhutkar manages to play a decent Raavji. Ashok Samarth also does a bearable job as Sarnobat. But other than these two all the other lead cast is just terrible. Monalisa Bagal as Rambha is annoying at most rather than being a cute person audience is supposed to fall in love with. Shantanu Moghe as Shivaji Maharaj is also at his terrible best. Another thing that comes along with such period dramas with miniscule budgets is the dodgy VFX. It looks absolutely fake and loopy which is given with the limited budget. The cinematography is very basic and fails to be an asset to the overall film. Even the scar on one of the characters is uneven and changes from scene to scene. These are the small things that actually make a film worth watching and believing. Ravrambha has disastrously failed itself in all the departments. Don’t bother taking out time for this one in the scorching heat. Ravrambha is a waste of time, money and sweat.