Monkeys of Mumbai: Lanka Upside-down

This was the very first scene I did at DreamWorks, and one of the first scenes to be done featuring Ravana. I remember having real trouble with the scene, it just lacked something and it was really frustrating me. One night I was working late, and decided to try something a little different. Looking in to his story, I realized that Sita was Ravana's only real achilles heel, and while his multiple personalities were fascinating, I thought he needed a trigger. That reminded me of one of the most frightening scenes in Schindler's List, where Ralph Fiennes character torments Embeth Davidz character in the basement of his house. This was the result.

Ravana has captured Chani (an actress whom he has mistaken for the legendary Sita), and brought her to his Escher-like island fortress of Lanka. Deepu has followed them, and watches the action from a safe distance.

© DreamWorks Feature Animation