Ravanaprabhu

Ranjith's 2001 Malayalam film was made as a continuation of Devasuram from 1993. Mohanlal plays the son of the character from the first film, a man pursuing an old score in order to reclaim the family house. The film is among the best-known examples of the feudal family narrative in Malayalam cinema. It is a world built on land, lineage and honour, where decisions are taken in the hall of a house rather than in a court. Ranjith does not criticise that world; he presents it as magnificent, which is the film's most contested quality. Mohanlal's entrance and his lines are still in circulation. As a sequel it leaves viewers who have not seen the first film struggling with some of the relationships. The action and the music sit at the mainstream standard of the period. Who it's for: those who like Malayalam star cinema and feudal family drama. Who it's not for: viewers who find the hierarchy this kind of narrative romanticises troubling; the film does it openly.