Movie: Ra. One
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal
In the Indian cinema “Ra.One” is definitely a film that will stand apart for years to come.
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However, when you place it in the international cinema front, undoubtedly it becomes one of those films that people wouldn't care to talk or even write about.
Had only the film not been over sold and allowed viewers to watch with lower expectations, I'm sure the impact would've been better.
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Shah Rukh plays Shekhar, a South Indian nerd, who lives with his wife Sonia (Kareena) and their son Prateek. Due to his parents' not-so-interesting careers, Prateek lives the life of an apathetic kid with a dream that one day, he could see his diffident father as “Papa – The Great”.
Soon, in an effort to impress his son, Shekhar designs a virtual reality game with characters of Prateek's liking. But, to everybody's surprise, the characters from the game step out into real life. A battle is kicked off between Ra.One and G.One and what follows forms the rest of the story.
Reasons to watch
First, to understand how much we have advanced in the name of technology and secondly, to understand how badly we can mess up a concept by putting together bits and pieces of a story borrowed from not one but several Hollywood films.
The only thing that keeps the film alive is the visual burlesque and fast-paced storytelling. The rough sense of humour and vulgar dialogues in the film fail to appeal to the family audience category as well.
Vishal-Shekar's music fails to go beyond “Chamak Challo”, while Manikandan's cinematography is a visual treat. Overall, Shah Rukh went too far to flaunt his stardom, eventually failing in the effort.
Bottomline: The characters Ra.One and G.One win, but “Ra.One” as a film falls flat.
HARICHARAN PUDIPEDDI, is a MBA graduate