Ra.One (2011) Reviews

• A confused mishmash of formulae

  ashu-modi2011-11-09

  From the time that the credits roll on to the screen (Thanks to Shahenshah Amitabh, Superstar Rajnikanth and hugs to Sanjay Dutt & Priyanka Chopra), one gets the feeling that the movie is an indulgence in the exercise of 'I scratch your back and you scratch mine' and not the self proclaimed revolution in Hindi film making. It is a confused mishmash of the same formulae that have been used in the Hindi film industry for all these years with some early 90s style Hollywood special effects thrown in. Somebody needs to tell the director Anubhav Sinha and the producer/actor Shah Rukh Khan that one cannot and should not try to please all the people in the audience, else the end result is exactly what they served: a movie that feels forced and stale Story: By now, all who are remotely interested in this movie know about the story. It is the weakest link in the entire setup. The entire writer's union (even SRK has been credited with contributing to something that amounts to nothing) couldn't decide whether this needs to be a sci-fi, superhero, romance, children or an action flick. Some of the outstanding moments (scenes where I nearly stood outside the theater)are: 1. A press conference at the start where the audience is dumb as it believes the crap that Ms. Reddy dishes out about technology 2. The moment when the antagonist steps out of the game - no explanation on how the game developed an intelligence on its own or how it could move into the physical world in a suit that obviously does not have even a millionth of the processing power or storage capacity needed for such a complicated being to function 3. The superhero's entry - again, no idea how it came into being in the physical world. And how the hell did Ms. Reddy (who seems more like a marketing executive) figure out what the lead game designer / team leader SRK could not 4. How was Kareena able to keep her husband's death a secret from the neighbours in India? These days when even a burp is reported on the Facebook and/or Tweeted around the world, it seems highly unlikely 5. Why the hell did the robot have to run along the side of the train when running on the top would have been the fastest way to the motorman's cabin? Frankly, the entire story leaves a lot to be desired Influences: 1. Poster inspired from Batman Begins 2. The story inspired from Judgement Day (robot saves mother and son from another robot), The Last Action Hero (characters from imaginary world stepping out into the real world), Tron (gaming world characters vs real world characters), Kalicharan (father dies, someone replaces him to protect family), Iron Man (the concept of H.A.R.T. is the same as the arc reactor), Millennium Man (a robot learning about emotions) 3. Scenes inspired from Spiderman series, Batman series, Terminator series, Iron Man series, Rajni's Robot, whew 4. The best moment in the film for me was when the film's shooting was at the factory featured on Pink Floyd's Animals'cover. The only issue is it didn't look half as beautiful Acting: the less said the better Overall: Watch at your own risk SRK may have recovered his investment but he has to remember that he may fool some of the people all the time, all the people some of the time, but he can't fool all the people all the time with his over-the-top marketing gimmicks P.S. the much vaunted Rajnikanth special appearance seems like its airbrushed on to the reel

• A super-crap movie that should be a super-flop but may be a super hit

  dreamsfilm-12011-11-05

  SRK is a genius. At conman ship! He's single-handedly taken a mega-crap garbage of a movie and turned into a must-see event. Now if that isn't genius what is? I think he said no to Shankar and yes to Anubhav Sinha is simply because he couldn't control Shankar but would be able to control Anubhav Sinha. A talentless soul who's only made sub-par crap reaching rock bottom in crappiness by making Cash. And flop-master Anubhav jumped up with joy and couldn't believe his luck that he was getting a 150 crore budget and India's biggest superstar after the disaster like Cash. It's just an example that God doesn't condemn anyone. The movie or the pathetic example of a grotesque cinematic experience :- 1. G.One. The video game character actually smiles, sings and dances. Stupidity. 2. Ra.One. The villain doesn't want to dominate the world. He just wants to kill a silly annoying kid. Did the makers stop to think that the audience would actually support the villain on this one? 3. No explanation for anything. If it's SRK kuch bhi chalta hain. 4. Action scenes look they are directed by someone else. Not a good sign for Mr.Sinha. If only the rest of the movie had been directed by competent people. 5. Bad background score. For e.g. - the intro of G.One. We don't even realize the hero has arrived. Basic superhero movie 101. I guess it's too much to expect from morons. The list could go on and on but I'm just too tired and don't want to relive the experience. But the biggest people to blame are the stupid Indian audience. They'll turn up in droves like marionettes to watch something as bad as this if there's a star. But let quality movies go a begging. Wonder why don't theaters just play slideshows of still pictures of movie stars in theaters. That should be enough. I've nothing against movie stars, but only against talentless people being given the reigns to make movies and the result being presented as something worthwhile. Shame on you Mr.Khan. I really like you and your movies but this one was below the belt. I mean you cheated your fans. Your real fans that is.

• Tata Nano sold as a Ferrari

  neilvincentck2011-11-01

  At the end of Ra.One I was left wondering how King Khan had a Tata Nano and sold it as a Ferrari! The beauty of the graphics and the density of the screenplay can be compared to the best of the Hollywood movies but Ra.One lacks character. The story begins on a bad note and quickly drops from there to nothingness. SRK is Shekar, a video game designer from Chennai at London; a stereotype South Indian, who speaks bad Tamil and looks hardly the part. Bad acting has ripped this movie in tatters. The first half is a test SRK has prepared for your nerves with such mind numbing comedy. The lines were obvious and scripted lacked any surprise or energy. Kareena manages to look gorgeous but hardly looks like the mother of Armaan Verma who by the way has done a great job.The 'wow' factor of the movie is Arjun Rampal who manages to pull you with his suave and angelic Powers. 'Chamak Challo'; that my friends, is the high light of the entire movie! And everything else is mental rape of common sense for you. SRK is a fantastic producer lavishing on the sets and props but made a disaster of a movie. The King is severely stressed and appears like a half baked cake throughout the movie. My dear SRK; you cannot be Rajnikanth not only because you are not Rajnikant but also because you are King Khan! This movie can be a great marketing case study on how excessive marketing of a damp product can actually set the box office on fire (Arindam Chaudari hope you are listening!) SRK's media prowess is obvious with people calling this the movie of a lifetime. YUCK!! In short Ra.One is a boring science lecture on Artificial Intelligence and also the 150 crore ego boost of a bad actor. If you decide to watch this movie; please leave your brains in the fridge!

• Promotional Overdose..!

  gvsanthosh2011-10-29

  THE GAG: Ra-One should have been released in the month of April. We could have laughed it off as a 'fools day' gag considering the content, the inflated ticket prices and non-stop TV branding. The average movie goer was fooled left, right and center..! THE PLOT: Shekhar (Shahrukh Khan) is a video game developer who develops a game that has an unassailable villain so as to impress his villain fanatic son Prateek (Aman Verma). THE MISSING PLOT: RA-ONE is the villain 'program prototype' in the game which goes on to assume the body of Arjun Rampal from an advertisement poster, in real life. How the villain character transforms into a real life super villain is beyond the average movie goer. RA-ONE , now transformed, is on a Prateek chasing spree, just because Prateek's good at video games. And remember this was not supposed to be a 'leave your brains at home' kind..! POSITIVE CHARGE: The music needs a mention. It is catchy. The audience love the party dancing. G-ONE (who is the ever predictable counter measure of RA-ONE aka HERO ). NEGATIVE CHARGE: The outcome of the movie is not convincing. SRK is not SFX material. His acting is his strength which lacked limelight.SFX took precedence in some parts. The script of Ra-One has more pot-holes than that on the streets of Bangalore. Kareena (Sonia) and Arjun(RaOne) lack screen space. THE WAY AHEAD: There are no B-SCHOOLS in the world that cannot deny Shahrukh an honorary MBA. With the hype he generated for a 6 month period if not more has proved him an expert marketing tycoon. Will the audience be fooled again come DON-2..?? Time will tell. But surely,next time any form of promotional overdose will not work. SEQUEAL SCENARIO: The movie ends with an invitation for a would be producer of a RA-ONE TWO. But I'am sure as hell that there will not be any sequels for this movie. Remember the 'super hero' audience is 'once bitten twice shy'..!

• words cannot describe how bad this movie is

  awerqfa2011-10-31

  finally a movie that infuriated me enough to write something about it. This is typifies the ..scope creep.. that plagues most big budget Hindi movies. that extra non-sensical musical number with scantily clad Caucasian women, the slow motion muscle flexing muscled Neanderthals in this case since this is 3D lots of breaking glass and running through flying glass. You start with a decent premise and by the time the final cut is done it ends up being am incredibly stupid mishmash of slow motion ads with a few brain dead songs and comedy sketches. Don't even get me started on the tech story in the movie. It's like some 10th class fail science student making stuff up. This is typical for most bollywood movies now. All pomp and show and no substance.