After the high profile audio launch of Mani Ratnam's Raavan, the Tamil audio of Raavanan reached the stores silently.

To make up for the lack of fan fare, the director decided to showcase the first look of the film at a gala function in Chennai on Friday.

The function which was attended by Vikram, Prithviraj, Priya Mani, Karthik, Prabhu, A R Rahman, lyricist Vairamuthu, Sanosh Sivan, Sreekar Prasad and Mani Ratnam, started on time without the usual long and endless speeches.

The heroine of the film, Aishwarya Rai could not make it as she is attending the ongoing Cannes film festival in France.

As Mani Ratnam has chosen the thick forests of Kerala and the Athirappalli waterfall as the backdrop of the film, the set recreated by art director Rajeevan, also resembled a jungle with thunder and lightning adding to the whole effect.

After the screening of the 10-minute trailer, Karthik took to the stage singing Usire Poguthe.

The host and the hostess of the evening were veteran actor and politician Karthik and Priya Mani, who both did a marvellous job.

This is Karthik's third film with Mani Ratnam. He was seen in one of the director's most beautiful love stories, Mouna Raagam opposite Revathy. He later acted in Agni Nakshatiram with Prabhu.

Both Karthik and Prabhu were in their element when the former questioned the latter on the film and the experience of working with Mani Ratnam.

For the National Award winning young actress, Priya Mani, Mani Ratnam's film is a vindication of her talent. She is there in the Hindi and Telugu versions too.

The most interesting conversation was between off-screen friends Priya Mani and Prithviraj.

Prithviraj, spoke at length about the greatness of Mani Ratnam as a director. "It was a unique experience working for Mani sir. We had to get up at 3.30 in the morning and trek for hours to reach the location. We climbed rocks, we worked when it was cold and raining. I would say I have never worked in such conditions before and will never forget the experience. But Mani sir was cool and led from the front," he said.

But the most difficult part according to the young actor was romancing the beautiful Aishwarya Rai. He admitted that her beauty bowled him over. As he went on and on about Aishwarya Rai's beauty, Priya Mani pushed him away from the dais! (It is interesting to see how Prithviraj, a good ten years younger to Aishwarya Rai will look on screen as her husband!)

The hero, Vikram's entry was the most dramatic and electrifying. Dressed as Veera, the character he plays in the film, Vikram performed live to the song Kodu Poatta Konnu Podu on stage, along with a group of dancers.

After the performance Vikram said, "I do not play Raavanan in the film; the name is a metaphor and every person has a little bit of Raavanan in him. The movie is not a take on Ramayana; it has shades of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Silappathikaram, Macbeth and Othello. It was one of the most difficult roles I did in my career and Mani sir was always there to guide me throughout."

A R Rahman came on stage with lyricist Vairamuthu almost at the end of the programme.

As the poet read out the lyricsV Veeran vidai perugiraan, Rahman sang them without any background music.

While everyone connected with Raavanan spoke eloquently, the only person who remained silent with a smile on his face was the man who made it; Mani Ratnam.