Maniratnam's Ravan

May be it is not such a good idea to compare two movies by two different makers, but one certain commonality prompts me to compare Maniratnam's 'Raavan' to 'Rajniti'. The common factor is that both draw from India's two foremost epics, the Mahabharat and the Ramayan. 'Ravan', in fact, is the villain of the epic mentioned latterly. Mahabharat on the other hand is primarily about rajniti or politics: politics is the central thread on which beads of dramatic occurrences are woven to make, as it were,a necklace. Both these films take off from old Indian epics to make, what I suppose, amounts to a contemporary statement.
Whereas good over evil is the message of the two ancient texts the films state just the opposite. They seem to say loudly but not clearly, just garishly, that it is the evil which triumphs in the end. If not then why does the director of Raavan in an impossibly unexpected turn bring in "Rama" to shoot "Ravana", thereby veering the sympathies villain-wards. Though that is how it should be as per the original epic where Rama, the god slays Ravana, the demon, but the spectator's sympathies vacillate t'wards Rama. They are not forcefully steered towards the villain as in the film.
In the film junior Bachchan is the obvious villain. He abducts the SP (Vikram)'s wife, he kills without mercy; most of his evil deeds are pre-meditated enough to leave no doubt in the mind that he is evil. But Maniratnam seems to justify crime by painting the naxalite-like Beera (that's Abhiskek's name in the film)virtuous. He is vengeful (the reason for his abduction of Aishvarya Ray); he is a tyrant(the way he treats his sister's fiance and later kills him for a trivial yet hugely egoistic reason)and much more; he has fits of what I surmised could more likely be schizophrenia than  any mild criminal enthusiasm, but Mr.Manirathnam justifies all that. And just as it happens in Hindi films this outright cruel maniac abstains from raping Aishwarya's character because he is truly(sic)in love with her. Methinks, given the screen-time and the busy killing schedule of Beera the attraction he feels towards Aishvarya's character can only be lust, not in the least love and not at all'TRUE LOVE'.
It was something perverse in me that wanted to see Ravan till the end. To be fair to Mani's efforts however , the film has engaging dramatic turns (although the last bit was rather far fetched)but thematically it sucks  like a weak proposal. It is a film obtained to enthrall the brains of a tired middle class, too tired to ask sensitive questions.
If I were to give an analogy I would say that Manirathnam's Ravan does give you an orgasm, but it is an orgasm that you reach after quite some laboured masturbation and not one you reach after a meaningful coitus.