Movie Review: Ra.One;
Star cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Armaan Verma, Shahana Goswami;
Director: Anubhav Sinha;
Here's a movie the Hindi film industry can be proud of. "Ra.One" can be touted as the first Hindi movie that blends the stylishness of Hollywood
"Ra.One" dwells into the virtual world of today's youngsters who are hooked on to technology and video games.
Shah Rukh Khan's magnum opus, ‘RA.One’ takes its name from its deadly villain; the cruelest treatment of the film's narrative is also reserved for the so-called RA.One. Having emerged from a cutting edge video game into the real world in pursuit of his nemesis G.One and a kid named Lucifer, RA.One is a villain without an aim. He doesn't crave world domination; he hasn't been mistreated by G.One or Lucifer, or anyone else for that matter. In fact, the only reason he seems to be chasing the duo half way across the world is because his A.I. has been programmed to do so.
Admittedly, where the movie does light up is in the argument between G.One and RA.One, where it really dazzles. However, these confrontations, these action-packed fights, are few and far in between. Instead, director Anubhav Sinha's story spends too much time setting up the events of the movie, delving too long on the antics of Shekhar Subramaniam, the video-game designing protagonist of the movie, as well as those of his virtual counterpart, G.One, both played in differently-coiffed avatars by Shah Rukh Khan.
The movie follows from an ill-fated attempt of a conglomerate called Barron industries to develop a new video game, under the supervision of the clumsy Shekhar Subramaniam, whose chief activities are spitting out quotable quotes, knocking things over, romancing his foul-mouthed, but loving wife Sonia, and doting on his bratty, techno whiz of a son, Pratik, who goes by the name Lucifer in all the games he plays and thinks nothing of his dad. When Pratik off-handedly comments that the villain is the most important aspect of a game, Shekhar sets out to create a virtual reality game with the deadliest, most powerful villain ever. Things go awry though, when the villain's A.I., called RA.One, takes control of the systems and uses the Barron industries technology to come to life in the real world, and comes after Lucifer, who was the first player to breach his second level. Now, obviously, the only one who can save them, is the game's hero, G.One, aka The Good One, who comes alive to battle the evil of RA.One.
The chief factor against the film is the lifelessness of its narrative, where things simply take too long to develop and progress. For a superhero movie such as this, such monotony is the death knell. One aches here, to simply see the face off between RA.One and G.One, between good and evil. Why the film's makers resist is beyond one's understanding though.
But, what it lacks in substance, 'RA.One' makes up for in spirit. In fact, the movie is saved by the style and special effects it is fully clad in. It is really amazing what Shah Rukh Khan and the team at his Red Chillies VFX have achieved visuals-wise in 'RA.One'. Though it may not match up to the bleeding edge VFX that Hollywood churns out these days, given the relative budget of the movie, 'RA.One' does achieve brilliance in its visuals. Taken as a standard, 'RA.One' is a clear game-changer as far as Bollywood is concerned, and if cine-goers throng the movie as is expected. In fact, the mesmerizing quality of the film's effects is obvious by the fact that the most exciting scenes of the movie come in during the credits, when the team shows off how some of the most jaw-dropping sequences of the movie were achieved.
Anubhav Sinha's direction works in parts. While his vision of the film's narrative seems to be twisted, the director shows off great skill in handling the film's action sequences, which are bumped up the superb VFX. The director also extracts watchable performances from his stars, Shah Rukh and Kareena Kapoor. 'RA.One' is a personal dream for the King Khan, and it is obvious here that he has poured his heart and soul into the film. Kareena Kapoor as Sonia and Arjun Rampal as the final RA.One, have shorter roles, comparatively, but both make the most of it. Kareena plays up the pep factor as the Southie engineer Shekhar's Punjabi wife, and looks positively ravishing in every scene she's in. Arjun Rampal may have earned brickbats earlier for his multi-dimensional acting skills, but here, 'RA.One' calls accurately for that sort of singular focus. Menacing with his looks and body, Rampal plays the baddie here to great effect. However, the find of the movie is definitely the young Armaan Verma, who plays the bratty Prateek with a flourish, his floppy hairdo notwithstanding.
The little gimmicks by Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra and Rajnikant add to the lighter moments of the movie but take the story nowhere.
Admittedly, where the movie does light up is in the argument between G.One and RA.One, where it really dazzles. However, these confrontations, these action-packed fights, are few and far in between. Instead, director Anubhav Sinha's story spends too much time setting up the events of the movie, delving too long on the antics of Shekhar Subramaniam, the video-game designing protagonist of the movie, as well as those of his virtual counterpart, G.One, both played in differently-coiffed avatars by Shah Rukh Khan.
The movie follows from an ill-fated attempt of a conglomerate called Barron industries to develop a new video game, under the supervision of the clumsy Shekhar Subramaniam, whose chief activities are spitting out quotable quotes, knocking things over, romancing his foul-mouthed, but loving wife Sonia, and doting on his bratty, techno whiz of a son, Pratik, who goes by the name Lucifer in all the games he plays and thinks nothing of his dad. When Pratik off-handedly comments that the villain is the most important aspect of a game, Shekhar sets out to create a virtual reality game with the deadliest, most powerful villain ever. Things go awry though, when the villain's A.I., called RA.One, takes control of the systems and uses the Barron industries technology to come to life in the real world, and comes after Lucifer, who was the first player to breach his second level. Now, obviously, the only one who can save them, is the game's hero, G.One, aka The Good One, who comes alive to battle the evil of RA.One.
The chief factor against the film is the lifelessness of its narrative, where things simply take too long to develop and progress. For a superhero movie such as this, such monotony is the death knell. One aches here, to simply see the face off between RA.One and G.One, between good and evil. Why the film's makers resist is beyond one's understanding though.
But, what it lacks in substance, 'RA.One' makes up for in spirit. In fact, the movie is saved by the style and special effects it is fully clad in. It is really amazing what Shah Rukh Khan and the team at his Red Chillies VFX have achieved visuals-wise in 'RA.One'. Though it may not match up to the bleeding edge VFX that Hollywood churns out these days, given the relative budget of the movie, 'RA.One' does achieve brilliance in its visuals. Taken as a standard, 'RA.One' is a clear game-changer as far as Bollywood is concerned, and if cine-goers throng the movie as is expected. In fact, the mesmerizing quality of the film's effects is obvious by the fact that the most exciting scenes of the movie come in during the credits, when the team shows off how some of the most jaw-dropping sequences of the movie were achieved.
Anubhav Sinha's direction works in parts. While his vision of the film's narrative seems to be twisted, the director shows off great skill in handling the film's action sequences, which are bumped up the superb VFX. The director also extracts watchable performances from his stars, Shah Rukh and Kareena Kapoor. 'RA.One' is a personal dream for the King Khan, and it is obvious here that he has poured his heart and soul into the film. Kareena Kapoor as Sonia and Arjun Rampal as the final RA.One, have shorter roles, comparatively, but both make the most of it. Kareena plays up the pep factor as the Southie engineer Shekhar's Punjabi wife, and looks positively ravishing in every scene she's in. Arjun Rampal may have earned brickbats earlier for his multi-dimensional acting skills, but here, 'RA.One' calls accurately for that sort of singular focus. Menacing with his looks and body, Rampal plays the baddie here to great effect. However, the find of the movie is definitely the young Armaan Verma, who plays the bratty Prateek with a flourish, his floppy hairdo notwithstanding.
The little gimmicks by Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra and Rajnikant add to the lighter moments of the movie but take the story nowhere.
The film's other big draw, apart from the VFX, is its soundtrack and score, from Vishal Shekhar, with international star Akon as its attraction. 'chammak challo' and 'criminal' are already worldwide hits, and watching Shah Rukh and Kareena scorch to them on screen is just an added attraction. However, it is the non-Akon tracks, chiefly 'dildaara' and 'bhare naina', which truly find centre stage with the film.
'RA.One' manages to stand tall on the shoulders of its path-breaking production values and visuals, along with music to last.
Overall, it is worthy to watch VFX effects, Arjun Rampal’s praiseworthy act and some tuneful music.
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