RA.ONE

First and foremost, a note: I have almost always disliked 3D because it makes the movies a shade darker. And with everybody hell bent on shooting f... read more

First and foremost, a note: I have almost always disliked 3D because it makes the movies a shade darker. And with everybody hell bent on shooting films at night (Priest/Tron), going for such a film usually meant paying a little extra, popping your eyeballs out and returning with a headache 2 hours later. Ra.One gets this correct, with lots of daylight action. This is one flick where watching it in 3D makes a positive difference to your entire experience.

Coming back to the film, what is good about the movie ?

1. The VFX and the action sequences. Clean and well done.
2. The concept. New for an Indian audience.
3. The screenplay. Fast paced in chunks.

And what is bad?
1. Shah Rukh Khan stars in it. Well, if you hate the guy for no logical reason, you will put him down no matter what he will do. Superstar Rajni Saar got worldwide acclaim for making a similar film, while SRK gets panned by people who have not even bothered to watch Ra.One.
2. The starting. Really cheesy, dull and disappointing.
2. The VFX and the action sequences. Well, if you have been to Hollywood, you are not going to go gaga over them.
3. The concept. Old for an international audience, again.
4. The screenplay. It drags horribly in chunks !

What doesn't work for the film is the attempt to appease all sections of the audience: Ra.One doesn't completely run on the serious track, instead interspersing it with comedy which is unbecoming, given the fact that there has been a tragedy onscreen.

Apart from that, the film is a treat to watch. Comparing it with cinematic crap like Ready or Bodyguard is a misscarriage of justice. Watch it as a paisa vasool entertainer, and don't expect exemplary acting - simply because it doesn't need any. The concept and special effects do not leave much room for intense drama.

Ra.One is cinematic blitzkrieg. It is a perfect Diwali film, made on a grand scale with the sole purpose to wow its target audience and not educate them. Go.watch.it.once.view less

So finally Ra.One hits the theaters. So is it worth all the hype and hoopla? You bet it is. Is it going to break all the records in Bollywood histo... read more

So finally Ra.One hits the theaters. So is it worth all the hype and hoopla? You bet it is. Is it going to break all the records in Bollywood history? I don't know about that but SRK made sure he did break one record, that of the widest release in Bollywood history. The movie released in 2D as well as 3D. I caught the 2D version for now (3D will be the second helping).

The story which probably everyone knows by now is that of a game developer father (Shekhar), who in a quest to impress his son, builds the super villain of super villains, Ra.One. Due to a technology explained in the movie, Ra.One is able to cross the bridge between the virtual world and the real world and come to hunt Lucifer, the virtual world character of Shekhar's son whose real life name is coincidentally Aman Verma.The problem is Ra.One is almost invincible, so Shekhar's son unleashes G.One to fight him.

Although the story is silly in parts during the course of the movie, the graphics make more than ever for it. Never before have such graphics been witnessed in an Indian movie. SRK took a big gamble by going all in for this one and boy has it worked wonders. This film will open doors for special effects and animation in India. Mind boggling chase sequences and believable CGI make the movie watching experience a super enjoyable one. My favorite sequence was the train sequence. The public favorite was the special appearance of Rajnikant as 'Chitti the Robot'. There were several whistles and howls on his entry. What was most hilarious was that Kareena's character takes her 'palloo' on seeing him in respect LOL. On the negative side, the whole Tamil angle of SRK is irritating. Ra.One just dies too easily in level 3 aka the climax. Also some of the dialogs are corny but they could be taken with a pinch of salt.

The music is another strong aspect of the movie. Vishal Shekhar have done an awesome job in generating a game like feel to the music. It was disappointing to see the 'Jiya Mora ghabraye' track go missing. 'Bhare Naina' was the pick of the lot for me. 'Raftarein' worked for me as the background score in the train sequence.

SRK hams as the geeky Shekhar. He hams as G.One in the very end and you can see shades of My Name is Khan inertia. Kareena looks gorgeous and acts the part nicely. The kid Aman Verma stands toe to toe with the big stars and does a pretty decent job. The scene stealer though was supposed to be the villain played by Arjun Rampal. His role is so short you are left wanting for more. But he was by far the best actor on the set.

Hats off to Anubhav Sinha, Kanika Dhillon (for writing) & SRK. Anubhav Sinha does a mind blowing job in directing this magnum opus. It would have taken an enormous vision to bring this script to life and how. Take a bow Anubhav and take a bow SRK. You had the guts to do something different and you have pulled it off. The USP of the movie are its CGI and the fact that you never get bored for a minute in the movie. The movie runs at a fast pace and never derails from its track.

Overall a must watch for every Bollywood fan !

Reasons to watch:
1) Great CGI
2) Innovative storyline
3) Kick ass villain

Reasons to skip:
1) Big time SRK hater.

Repeat Value: Several times.

Rating: 7.9 / 10
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Ra.One Ra.One Ra.One. It's here there everywhere. This epic venture is touted to be SRK's answer to the talk of him being dethroned by Aamir & ... read more

Ra.One Ra.One Ra.One. It's here there everywhere. This epic venture is touted to be SRK's answer to the talk of him being dethroned by Aamir & Salman.The amount of money spent on this mega project ensures that you even see the adverts in the confines of your own bathroom. The question is, has KING KHAN returned to reclaim his throne?
The answer is NO. Sadly, this one is hugely disappointing and leaves you shell-shocked at the treatment given to a superhero film.

The story is that of Shekhar Subramanium(SRK), a geeky game developer. His son Prateek(Armaan) thinks his daddy is a wimp and his wife Sonia(Kareena) thinks hes goofy. Prateek wants him to design a game where the villain is more powerful and Shekhar does just that. But to his dismay, the game comes alive and Ra.One(Arjun Rampal) starts destroying people in the search for Prateek. In the bargain Shekhar goes down and in comes G-One who's main agenda is to finish Ra-One.

The start of the film is ridiculous and the cameos of Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra are plain simple stupid. SRK's south-Indian character is a stereotypical caricature and the initial 25 minutes are very forgettable.

The first action sequence between Ra-1 and G-1 is fantastic and makes you hope that the second half will be an action-packed ride. Unfortunately, the second half has a fare share of stupid jokes and kiddish action that leaves you wondering as to whom this film targets.

There are some scenes that are just strange like one on the airport where Shahrukh is shown with pierced nipples & a belly ring. The biggest flaw in the script is the lack of depth and substance, especially the beautifully shot train sequence that has zero action and just him flying from here to there. One expected more serious action from this one. The CGI is definitely superb and many steps ahead of regular Bollywood films.
The songs are hit-n-miss with Chamak Challo being the pick and the superb Raftaarein being reduced to a barely audible background score during the train scene.

SRK tries his best but doesn't pull off a superhero. His suit is great but the blue eyes and gelled hair don't quite speak badass. Arjun Rampal comes only in the second half and tries to scare. Kareena looks hot and is the pick of the lot. Rajni Sir's cameo is whistle-worthy.

The fault in this gargantuan venture lies in Anubhav Sinha. The writer-director falters yet again, this time on a canvas that is the biggest in Bollywood history. With the kind of money at his disposal, one would have definitely expected a tighter script and a more exciting screenplay.

To sum it up, if SRK catching Arjun Rampal's crotch in the middle of an action sequence is your idea of humour then this is your pick. To me, this is a kids film that is confused where its soul lies. I'd definitely appreciate the effort put in to take this risk but it still doesn't work.

At the box office, expect a riot with what I can assume would be a 30 crore opening day and a massive massive hit on SRK's hand. Alas, while it might shatter all previous records, it still doesn't make it good cinema.

For me, Its plain-n-simple disappointing. Avoid it on Diwali, watch it some other day if you must.
P.S- One of the best parts of the film is the new theatrical trailer of DON-2 at the start. UNMISSABLE and riveting. That might actually be his return to the throne.

Happy Diwali view less

As I sit to put my Ra.One's experience in words (better way than to say ' I shall write review', 'coz who cares for reviews, anyways?), King Khan's... read more

As I sit to put my Ra.One's experience in words (better way than to say ' I shall write review', 'coz who cares for reviews, anyways?), King Khan's dream project is already setting Box-Office ablaze with Rupees, Dollars, Pounds etc flowing-in a huge way. In any case, was it unexpected or unprecedented? After over-the-top publicity spree (which started a year back), King-Khan's global fan-following, releasing at humongous number of screens worldwide and festive weekend (with NO competition wat-so-ever), the success of Ra-One in initial few days is always expected and a certainity. But, the question remains: how it would fare in week-days and whether audience thinks that Ra.One has repeat value. Lets find out from a common man's perspective.

The movie starts with a lecture on how the video game characters could be seen, touched blah blah blah. Frankly I did'nt understood a wee-bit, or more importantly I did'nt found it worth pondering. First 'half an hour' surely test your patience as if you have done some crime sneaking-into the theatre. This 30 minutes includes:
a) SRK's tamilian humor (only novelty value was eating noodles with curd). None of my tamilian friends use 'Aiiyyo' as much as SRK's character does in half-an-hour.
b) Sanju Baba and Piggy Chops cameo in dream sequence: Both the seasoned actors, along with Shahrukh himself, compliments each other with weak (let me add, 'Silly') dialogues, ham acting and stupid facial expressions.
c) Kareena Kapoor doing a 'thesis in Gaalis (Abuses)'. Whatttt??? Ya, Right!! Go and figure it out and do 'enlighten' me too.
d) Humor comes from booby keys and condom-condom?? If that's way to tickle the funny bone, it surely brushes it the wrong way. Well, I must say I would prefer Shahrukh's interviews and his Filmfare Awards' hosting any day.
Free-Tip: For real-humor (and healthy laugh), watch out for dance-steps of the Chinese Character (Akaashi) in the 'Criminal' song. You would die laughing.

Then again, how the hell video game characters comes to the real world? I don't know, don't ask me!! Believe me , its rather inconsequential; I am sure even writers did'nt had any clue about this presumable clownishness. If you are craving for some action in this Super-hero flick, you need to wait 1 hr and 10 mins when the first time G.one and Ra.One comes face to face. Immediately cars starts flying and our Super-Hero/Villain does fists-pumping and muscles-flexing stuff. Sadly, the wait is eternal and the outcome is too trivial to my liking.

After this 'high-octane' action scene, the 'two-Ones' meet at the climax. In between, there is lotzz of emotional drama and 'attempt-at-humor' and yes Chammak-Challo too. The best part surely is Chammak Challo; really happy to see 'Zero' of Kareena's figure going bit more rounder. Much touted local train action scene could have been better; it raises few 'OOHs' and 'WOWs' but fails to raise the adrenaline rush even by an iota (That, for me, is the drawback of excessive publicity; you tend to expect a bit-too-much for much-talked about scenes). Rajni's cameo still works as an exception and is welcomed by the whistling and clapping audiences.

FULL marks to SRK for using technology and VFX (Special Effects, Computer graphics, watever) to good effect and spending crores on his magnum-opus. Still I feel, a bunch of good writers, a good director and super-efficient editor could have been a better choice. I am sure SRK would have already recovered all his money back but if his intention was to entertain people with something that has never been tried before in Indian Cinema, then that 'novel-intention' is still not fulfilled.

Maverick's Verdict: Ra-ONE is a super-hero flick with a good HART (Or, Heart) but without a BRAN (Brain or Brawn).
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He is Spiderman, he is Batman, he is Batman, he is IronMan, why he is every man you can name from the world of super heroes all rolled in to one. Y... read more

He is Spiderman, he is Batman, he is Batman, he is IronMan, why he is every man you can name from the world of super heroes all rolled in to one. Yet Ra.one manages to entertain and impress, if not leave a lasting impression.

Ra.One is a spectacle from the word go. SRK is a gaming engineer whose son loves the bad guys more than his heroes. To please him, SRK creates a game where the evil never dies. The bad guy from the game, Ra.one comes into real life, and all hell breaks loose.

The film has a decidedly comic book feel to it in terms of treatment. Not taking it self seriously, the story flows at a pretty decent pace, not letting the tempo down at any moment. Coupled with this is a stupendous array of CGI and special effects that dazzle. As you whistle and scream, SRK as G,one delivers one fantastic scene after another, be it the car chase in London streets or the spectacular train sequence in Mumbai. As if the masal was not enough, Rajnikanth makes a blink and miss appearance too.

So then is Ra.one the next giant leap for Hindi Cinema? In terms of effects and money being spent at the right places yes. Every scene is lavish in both scale and execution. One cannot but marvel at the ambition of the team and amazing amount they have managed in the final product.

However, Ra.one is a let down in terms of cinema as such. It gives you what Krishh and Robot gave you, albeit with much more finesse but does not go beyond the gimmicks the earlier films had. The story plays to the gallery, SRK is his usual self, Kareena does what Aishwarya did in Robot, just a zillion times better, and thats about it. The film could have been much better, tighter, and stronger in the story department and content.

Yet, from the first scene to the last it packs enough fireworks to light up the Diwali season. There is a huge amount of money spent, along with loads of sincere intent, and it shows. Watch it definitely once, in 3D (it is the best for a Hindi film yet). It is not an X-Men or a Transformers, but it definitely beats a Green Lantern or Spy Kids any day. view less