Page - 46 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/02

46 | Genoveva Castro www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/2, 31–53 of the narrative, such as Vālmikī’s, Sītā must go through an ordeal of fire to prove her purity. In the movie, Dev lies to Rāginī, arguing that Bīrā told him that he had touched her. Dev uses Rāginī as a tool to catch Bīrā, acting like Rāvaṇa in that he uses tricks to achieve his goals. Rāginī leaves her husband in anger; she goes back to the forest to look for Bīrā and finds out the truth. Rāginī asks him if she is the weapon to bring vic- tory over Dev. Bīrā is happy to see Rāginī and he states, “We are cheap men, but we never allow even the wind to touch pure gold.” It seems that Rāginī and Bīrā have become close, as she trusted him enough to return to the jungle. This is a departure from the Vālmikī, Tulsīdās and Kampan versions, in which Rāvaṇa is killed before Sītā and Rāma are reunited. Again, the film amplifies the story of Rāvaṇa and emphasizes his good nature. Dev appears in the jungle with a group of policemen to attack Bīrā. When Bīrā is about to die, Rāginī symbolically reaches out to help him, standing in the middle of the battlefield (fig. 3). Bīrā was an honest fighter and spoke the truth, whereas Dev is portrayed as cunning, mistreating his wife. In the movie, Bīrā is killed, but his evilness is softened by his generosity to the oppressed, his search for justice, and his love for Rāginī. In this instance, the others – the outlaws, the ādivāsīs, and the Naxalites – oppose the un- just government and police. At times, Bīrā is transformed into a Rāma-like character. Whereas the demons are humanized, Dev’s behavior is criticized. Thus, a take-away from the movie is validation, to a certain degree, of those fighting against power structures. Fig. 3: Rāginī reaching out to save Bīrā. Film still, Raavan (Mani Ratnam, IN 2010), 02:10:52.