Big B laments Raavan's 'sad' editing

NEW DELHI: Three days after the release of Abhishek Bachchan starrer 'Raavan', Amitabh Bachchan has lamented that editing glitches ruined his son's performance but some of the key players of the film have come to the defense of director Mani Ratnam.

The much hyped film starring Aishwarya Rai opposite junior Bachchan opened to mixed reviews and Abhishek's turn as Beera, the volatile anti-hero, was panned by many critics.

Bachchan had tweeted that the "sad" editing ruined Abhishek's role, but the film's other star, Vikram and cinematographer Santosh Sivan have spoken out against Big B's comments.

"Lot of merited film edited out, causing inconsistent performance and narrative. Abhishek's erratic behavior was due to symbolic 10 heads visually appearing and each giving him different attitudes to adopt for a situation, he would then finally shake them off and decide.

".. It's sad, in the edit you only see the after effect of that thinking process, hence inconsistent. In the edit all the visual heads got cut and you see a confused Beera expression and wonder why?(sic)," tweeted Bachchan.

Cinematographer Santosh Sivan, who has received universal praise for his camera work in the film said that the director's prerogative cannot be questioned by anyone.

"I personally think everyone has a right to their own opinion. At the end of the day, it's the director's call. It's a different view point he has taken on 'Raavanan' which is a huge hit in the South," said Sivan.

Vikram who interestingly received good reviews for his turn as Veeraiyya in 'Raavanan', the same character as Abhishek's in the Hindi version, said that it was the audience who was the ultimate judge of a film and nobody else.

"I respect Mr Bachchan and I respect Mani sir. It's not something I can comment about as it's between Mani Sir and him though..(To the audience) You can hear a hundred things, some say its good, some say its bad. You are the ones who decide," said Vikram.

Bachchan who tweeted for a second time during the day accused the media for misinterpreting his statement as an affront to director Mani Ratnam.

"there has and shall always be respect and dignity for him (Mani Ratnam).. media playing with words. Mani is one of our finest directors .. he should never stop making films (sic)," tweeted the veteran actor.

The 54-year-old director, who made films like 'Roja', 'Dil Se', 'Bombay' and 'Guru', which garnered both critical acclaim and box office success, has previously given Abhishek hits like 'Yuva' and 'Guru'.