Direction: Anubhav Sinha
Production: Red Chillies Entertainment, Eros International
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor, Shahana Goswami, Rajnikanth
Music: Vishal-Shekhar
Rating: * ½
Plot: A video game programmer Shekhar Subramanian (Shah Rukh Khan) loves his wife Sonia (Kareena Kapoor) but struggles to keep his son Prateek (Armaan Verma) happy. One day, Prateek says he wants a video game where the villain turns victorious. Eager to make his son happy, Shekhar creates such a game called Ra.One. However, this proves to be too costly for Shekhar as Ra.One (Arjun Rampal) comes out of the game and creates havoc in the human world. The only person who can defeat him is the good guy of the video game G.One (Shah Rukh Khan).
G.One (life)-less!
No matter how bigger amount you shell out to make a film, it is of no use if you don’t have a proper story or script. The same is the case with Anubhav Sinha’s Ra.One, which is born out of a meaningless concept and on top of that, treated in a shoddy manner. At the end of the day, it’s turns out to be an exhibition of special effects which go way overboard!
The movie starts with a bang but the bang turns out to be a dream sequence. Light moments follow in the next 30-40 minutes consisting cheap humour which hardly makes you giggle. Scenes like keys falling into a girl’s bosom, butt-shaking, ass words, a homosexual getting turned on and regular mention of condoms are difficult to digest in a movie which is being promoted as a family entertainer.
Thankfully, proceedings gain momentum once Ra.One comes out of the video game. However, there is no reason or explanation given as to how he entered the real world. And more importantly, how can a video game character derive such superpowers? And despite these powers, he is shown helpless without a vehicle when he chases Kareena and Armaan!
A very strange thing that deserves mention is Kareena and Armaan’s response to a shattering tragedy (can’t reveal much) in the first half. They react as if it’s a regular thing for them!
Anyways, then comes the dhamakedar interval point which raises your expectations. Unfortunately, the pace goes downhill from here on with more uninteresting humour and songs that only act as obstacles. Although Rajnikanth’s entry garners plenty of seetis, the scene is sloppily forced and serves no purpose whatsoever! Similar can be said for Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra’s guest appearances.
Finally, the big battle between Ra.One and G.One begins which starts with a terrific train sequence. But even that goes overboard after it destroys the heritage building of Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus. (As a true Mumbaikar, I was offended!)
The climax, which should be the most defining moment, is far from convincing and fails to provide the punch which was expected. It’s just laughable to see how easily the villain is defeated! And by the way, what kind of digital Azad Maidan was it? Sadly, the flaws are not limited to these!
One of the few plus points is Nicola Pecorini’s cinematography. But the high definition special effects, which are never seen before in Indian cinema, take the cake in the end.
Composer duo Vishal-Shekhar has done a fair job although there isn’t much scope for music. Songs ‘Raftare’ and ‘Chammak Challo’ stand out.
Sinha’s direction is strictly okay. We are often reminded of his last outing Cash (2007) which was a disaster.
Shah Rukh Khan plays two characters – one of an unimpressive father and the other of a superhero. In the first one, he tries too hard to be funny and convincing. As a superhero, he is just likable but one certainly expects a much better show by the King Khan. Excuse me, but his growing age is also clearly visible.
The movie is named after Arjun Rampal’s character but the length of his role is surprisingly short. As it is, he fails to impress with his expressionless acts although he says he was told to do so.
Kareena Kapoor, although not at her best, does a fair job and looks ravishing. The kid Armaan Verma is confident and adorable. But why such long hair for him, which makes him appear like a girl all the time?
Shahana Goswami shows her talent in a miniature role. One expects her to do play much meatier characters. Good performers like Dalip Tahil, Suresh Menon and Satish Shah are simply wasted. Tom Wu is a surprise package which works well.
Overall, Ra.One fails primarily due to the missing of the basic factor – meaningful story – and abuse of special effects. But thanks to SRK’s crazy promotion, it will garner huge collections at the box-office. There have been few films in recent years which have tasted enormous success at the box-office but failed to impress a large majority of viewers. Add Ra.One’s name in the list.
great review .. shared via @bollywoodhours
There have been few films in recent years which have tasted enormous success at the box-office but failed to impress a large majority of viewers.
This.
Along with MNIK it seems SRK is releasing quite a few of these recently…
Lol! I was also talking about some non-SRK movies.
Nice to receive your comment Filmi Girl.
Regards 🙂
Wish you a very Happy and Prosperous Diwali.
Thanks a lot Seema. Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year to you too!
And thanks for voting each and every post of mine on Indiblogger.
God bless 🙂
cinemas were packed, people waiting outside for the next show, everyone waiting to see Ra.one. Has it lived up to people expectations, yes. It was wonderful movie as it had everything. well done to srk and team.
most people who are making negative comments, have you seen the movie? no, because you need money to do that, which you don’t have. What have you guys done with your life that you can boast? what? all you do is criticize, everyone and everything. get a life man. do something with your life.
ROFL!
God bless you 🙂
Awesome. Great review.
I have not the watched the movie but I will make sure to never watch this stupid movie.
This blog post will save millions from wasting 3 hours on this movie 😛
LOL! I wish I get millions of views 😛
Thanks for the comment 🙂
Srk is becoming a politician who likes to promote her film by spending a vast price and to visit every capital of states of India….And he makes the commercial movie with nonsense story with playing common peoples emotion…So that’s why it can be a Hit…but there was no true arts of movie or acting to make a new era of bollywood movie..No special works r there to get oscar or cannes.. They r only a commercial emotional movies to promote SRK..And India’s most common people did that..but now the time has come to audiences to understand the right things..,,,
Thanks for reading and commenting Sumana 🙂
Just watched the film ….. boooring ,…. i rather find Shaktiman more exciting ! lol
Lol!
Amir movie Ghajini is frame by frame copy of south Ghajini, it simple means it doesn’t have any innovative idea or no inputs from Amir as well. And No one is criticizing this big fact. You can watch both movies on you tube. Movie became hits & breaks records. Same happened for Salman movies.
This is similar situation when DON was released most of critics & peoples had putting bad reviews on net but because of SRK fans that movie did a good at box office & now everybody (including critics) likes SRK work in DON.
Thanks for the review! Always look forward to your movie reviews… very well written
Thanks a lot Anu 🙂
A comment by Zaz (yepal_123@hotmail.com) is deleted due to the usage of foul language. He does it again and he will be banned from commenting further 😛
great review buddy….and by the way all of my friends who watched the movie exactly said the same thing…keep it up!
Thank you Tahseen 🙂
A comment by Rani Khan (Death.cap1@yahoo.com) is deleted for using foul language. This is your last warning. Come on, get some sportsman spirit. It comes for free 😛
Very correct review! I have wasted my 3 hours along with my friend for this movie. Bollywood is still a far far away from hollywood as shown after this movie. I have never seen SRK in working with such a flawless script. Its a totally disappointment for SRK and his fans.
Thanks for reading and commenting Kailash 🙂
tum sab ke tau ka poda,bhai ka bochara.ra-one rocks.is site ko sallu,aamir aur akki ne paise diye he.aur sirf 22 logo ko he film achhi nahin lagi.jismese do tin ne toh dekhi bhi nahi.hahaha.srk rockssss
Hahahahaha! So we have another candidate interested in the post of God.
God bless you, till you become one 😛
Review of Review ! 😉 😉
The reviewer of Movie simply shows his/her extreme disliking for SRK in the biased review of the Movie.
Also there is a certain “Inferiority-Complex” showing up when he blast the movie for its imaginary ‘Lack of Story and Screen Play’ , when most of movies in Hollywood with such sci-fi themes are almost same and leave many questions to be unanswered.I mean there can be a good story or bad story but how can be a ‘No-Story’?
There was definitely a story where , on the insistence of his son , protagonist make a Video game in which Villan is more powerful.Due to some technicalities of IA(Artificial Intelligence) of which the Reviewer is totally ignorant , the Ra.One simulator become a Homonoid. And then kills the main protagonist.To tackle this Ra.One. his child with the help of his father’s colleague activate the G.one and then after many twist and turns , G.One defeats Ra.one.Another typical story which is used commonly in all superheors movies in either bollywood or hollywood.
I would like to ask the reviewer to enlighten us what kind of Logic was there in movies like Terminator , StarWars , Inception , Matrix , Sipderman , Batman , Avatar , etc..Those all movies were a a work of fiction with no logical explanation of Ideas shown in the movie.But when a person from Indian try to make something like that , with a new concept , people start pulling his leg.
This is a Start of new Era in the Bollywood and it was clearly a good respite from the typical Salmanish humor which take shelter beneath their own fart to spread the humor.Yuck..!
Anyway the Review of the Review has given the Review of the Movie a , ‘NO Star’.
The only point I agree with the reviewer is that of the lack of real emotions which Heroine and her son displayed after battling with the news of demise of her husband .
Dear Mohit,
First of all, I am a big fan of SRK.
Secondly, I have never said there is no story. Looks like you haven’t read the review properly.
And lastly, I have not seen any of the Hollywood movies mentioned by you. I prefer to watch Bollywood/ Indian films.
Cheers 🙂
I was seeing a guy for a short while. I am diabetic and have severe medical issues. I was with him only a small amount of time before I had to tell him that if he did not wish to seek professional help from a psychiatrist that I would have to leave him as a result of his severe depression and suicidal thoughts. I gave him a month and after he still refused I left him. Shortly after I found out I was pregnant. I was terrified. I am only 23 and I felt he had the right to know. He told me right away to have an abortion. I told him that was not a choice I felt comfortable in making. I asked him if he would give me a sum of money to help me pay for child items PRENATAL such as medications like folic acid and diabetic items. He obliged an he signed a piece of paper on a bank statement, at the bank in front of cameras that says he is giving me not loaning me the money for prenatial before birth care. I plan to use the money to get to my many doctors appointments since I have no car and live in the country away from all the doctors. He is now saying that he wants the money back and that he wants to see the baby. . . My thoughts are this, and I’m only looking for the opinions of people, if I wasn’t concerned with the best interest of the child I wouldn’t ask. If the father has a severe mental health issue, refuses to get help, and now is trying to go after me legally for money he gave me, but wants to see the child…what right’s do I have in protecting myself and the unborn baby? I have 7-8 months of pregnancy to go and already I am very ill, it’s painful, it’s scary, I live alone and he is not supporting me except for the financial pay he gave me, now he wants it back. Legally I have no reason to give it back, and if i do he may still come after me for the child. But how fair is it for a mother to have to go through nine months of hell alone, while still having to work, clean, cook and take care of her health, then give painful birth, and then have a father or sperm donor in this case walk in and declare he has rights? His family will support him in his decisions. My family has been supportive in mine. He will not speak to me, and I see this as being unstable right from the start. If he can’t communicate to me that he needs some space to think how will he ever communicate visits with my child? How can I work with someone who is not communicating? How do I protect myself and the child BEFORE it is born? I don’t want to have a little baby that I have worked so hard for for 9 months be born and then have him able to barge in and take the infant for the weekend..