Why 'Ramayana' has only half of Ravana's 'tandav' scene
What's the story
The blockbuster film Ramayana: Part 1 is currently setting new benchmarks at the global box office. The movie is packed with several stunning sequences, thanks to technical wizardry and advanced technologies like VFX and CGI. One such sequence is the 10-headed Ravana scene featuring Yash, which is among the best scenes in the film. Another standout was Ravana's tandav scene. The film's director of photography (DoP) Pankaj Kumar opened up about these challenging scenes.
Editing decisions
Kumar on edited 'Tandav' song sequence
Kumar revealed to Variety India that the powerful Ravana Tandav song sequence featuring Yash and choreographed by Shiamak Davar was edited down.
"One of the other sequences I actually loved shooting was the Tandav sequence...What you see in the film is only half of what we shot."
"I think the film is already too long, so a lot of sequences have been shortened quite a bit."
"In its full extent, (the scene) was remarkable. There was a lot of energy."
Scene breakdown
Kumar on challenges of shooting 10-headed Ravana scene
On the Dashanan (10-headed) scene, Kumar said, "I think the 10-headed Ravana sequence was the toughest from the VFX point of view. The VFX artists have done a fabulous job on it."
He explained that planning for this scene took time as Yash had to appear in 10 avatars. "It took us a while to plan the motion-control camera and decide where we were going to place each of them."
Actor's input
DoP lauded Yash for this
Kumar also lauded Yash for his creative interpretation of the complex sequence.
"The Dashanan sequence also deserves a lot of credit to Yash. He brought a lot of intensity to the performance and worked very hard to bring variety to the different characters in that sequence."
He further praised director Nitesh Tiwari for his unconventional portrayal of the 10 heads, saying, "He chose a very metaphysical interpretation of the 10 heads, which I thought was brilliant."