We are in the midst of the most exciting phase of Bollywood. New ideas are being encouraged and investors are not shying away from funding these exciting ventures. Although Bollywood has entered into various new horizons in the last 10 years, the superhero genre was the one that was kind of hitherto untouched, with only Krrish being the sole instance. Superhero films can work wonders and remain in the public memory for long, as proved by many flicks from the West. Hence, expectations were manifold from Ra.One, SRK’s most ambitious film ever. Thankfully, the film has lots and lots of exciting moments where you can’t help but get awed, clap, hoot, whistle and cheer as G.One takes on the baddie Ra.One! However, very unfortunately, the film falters at several places. The soul is missing in several scenes, especially in the 2nd half! More on it later!
The story of the movie: Shekhar Subramaniam (Shah Rukh Khan) is a game developer at Baron Industries. Every kid considers his father as a superhero. But that’s not the case with Shekhar’s son, Prateek (Armaan Verma) who has given up on his father. To impress his son who loves villains more than the heroes, Shekhar decides to come up with a new computer game where the negative character will be more powerful than the positive one. The plans are set into motion. The villain is named Ra.One and the hero G.One! The game seems like a super-success. Unfortunately, all hell breaks loose. Ra.One (Arjun Rampal) comes out of the game and is all set to destroy the Subramaniams! The only way to stop Ra.One would be…G.One! However, in a game where the villain is more powerful than the hero, how will G.One be able to defeat Ra.One?
Ra.One has an outstanding first half! The film begins on a thrilling note and the Sanjay Dutt-Priyanka Chopra sequence adds to the fun! The film moves at neat but swift pace with one of the pluspoints of the film being that the songs don’t act as a roadblock. The story, in fact, keeps on progressing during the songs too. The film reaches a high when Ra.One refuses to toe the command of its programmers and instead jumps from gaming world to real world. From here till the intermission point, it was one helluva ride! Especially the scene where G.One is unveiled! Terrific scene! The intermission comes at a perfect moment and you expect similar or even more exciting sequences to follow in the second half!
Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen! The action scenes were beautifully shot and VFX awestruck but somehow don’t work overall. The much-hyped Rajinikanth sequence begins on a rocking note but ends as a damb squib. In fact, the sequence was totally unnecessary! The entire sequence in Kareena’s Mumbai house were good but sadly not great. The Chammak Challo song was the best part of the hour, especially the twist at this point! Brilliant is the word! The train chase sequence was a first-class idea but unfortunately was shoddily executed. A similar sequence was seen in Robot which was so much better (However, Ra.One hasn’t copied Robot…the Ra.One train scene was shot months before Robot released in October 2010). However, the CST Station sequence astonishes! Hats off to the VFX guys! See it to believe it!
The climax should be the most exciting part of any film. But Ra.One’s finale is just alright. It should had been a little more imaginative as the fight was nothing but 2 extraordinary individuals trying to outwit each other. Secondly, the villain Ra.One should have been a bit more dangerous and scary and the director should have made him seem as the worst creature on the planet. If this was achieved, viewers would have surely felt a high when the good guy G.One eliminates him in the end. Sadly, nothing of that sort happens.
The main cast of the film delivers some great performances. It was a treat to see Shah Rukh Khan on the big screen after a hiatus and like everytime, he gives his hundred percent and comes out with flying colours. Whether it’s the goofy Shekhar or G.One, SRK rocks! However, its unfortunate to see that a film where he invested so much time, money and effort isn’t devoid of flaws. However, SRK need not worry as just 2 months later, we’ll get to see him in Don 2, a film that would be hopefully better and exciting than Ra.One!
Kareena Kapoor (as Sonia) looks stunning as always and her chemistry with both SRK and Armaan Varma was terrific. Watch out for her in the songs Criminal and Chammak Challo! Hats off! Armaan Varma has a very important role and excels! It’s a feat after all to create an important position amongst stalwarts like SRK and Kareena! Arjun Rampal looks super-sexy in his new look and gives a topnotch performance. However, one wishes that he had a lengthier role.
Tom Wu (Akashi) was simply amazing. In fact, viewers will be amazed to see that this supposed sidekick dominates some of the important sequences of the first half! Cutiepie Shahana Goswami (Jenny) was great in a supporting role. Dalip Tahil (Barron) and Satish Shah (Iyer) were okay in their respective parts. Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra rock in their respective special appearances. Rajinikanth sadly had nothing significant to do but it was sweet of him to do this role. Amitabh Bachchan’s voiceover in Ra.One game was too good!
Vishal-Shekhar’s music was foot-tapping and although some songs might seem forced, it juxtaposed well in the narrative. Chammak Challo obviously takes the cake. Bhare Naina, Criminal, Dildaara and Right By Your Side too are well composed and shot. Background score is exhilarating.
With soul missing from several scenes, it’s the technical team that saves the day. In fact, their work is so good that you still feel that the film is paisa vasool in spite of major glitches! V Manikandan and Nicola Pecorini’s cinematography is flawless and easily matches international standards. Same goes for the action sequences. Most importantly, VFX rocks! In fact, Ra.One is a shining example of getting good quality VFX at not-so-Hollywood rates! When similar films will be attempted in future, Ra.One shall be their inspiration in many ways!
Kanika Dhillon and Niranjan Iyengar’s dialogues were witty and even the adult jokes were well presented! Anubhav Sinha undoubtedly came up with a rocking plotline. The whole idea of father-son relationship going kaput and the superhero in the guise of father protecting the family was worth appreciating if not worth applauding! However, the screenplay (Anubhav Sinha, Mushtaq Sheikh, Kanika Dhillon) spoils it especially in the finale. As for Anubhav Sinha’s direction, it was at its best in the first hour but goes a bit haywire in the second half. As mentioned before, they should have worked a little more on the villain part. Nevertheless, a great try inspite of the minuses!
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