If you were in India over the last few weeks, it would have been impossible to miss the high voltage promotion of Ra.One. Be it Hoardings, Brand tie-ups, TV ads, mall promotions, or serial inducts... he has been all over the place. Shahrukh has been promoting it to such an extent that there are jokes on twitter and facebook that he might even pop out of your salad and say “its raw one”.
The movie has generated so much hype that even if the movie was bad, it still would have recovered its cost and more through opening weekend collections which in India is a real long one. But fortunately (and thankfully), the movie is a decent watch.
Ra.One is a story of a geek father who is trying to win over his modern age son. In this effort to be a cool dad, he builds up a game where the villain is more powerful than the hero. Some error happens and the game transitions into the real world with the villain stepping out. To kill Ra.One (the evil guy), G.One (the good guy) is made to step out as well.
The first half of the movie is strong. The build up of the two lead gaming characters (Ra.One and G.One) is really nice. The fusion of real and gaming world and how each level in the gaming world would eventually progress was, I must say, creative. This is the same half where most of the visual effects are also there. Though some of them do resemble Terminator 2.
But the story starts losing out in second half which seems similar to Robot. The biggest problem with it is the genre movie wanted to focus on. Shahrukh being Shahrukh wanted to please everyone. So the movie has bits and pieces of fiction, emotions, drama, romance, comedy, action and more. There are unnecessary songs brought in. Because the leading lady is Kareena and she must be given some screen time, there are scenes stuffed in, which if edited out, will have absolutely no impact to the film. Might have even made the movie slicker and smarter.
The first half lays out the rules of the games and second half is supposed to be the playtime. But somehow the real gaming levels come across as weak. In fact the final gaming level (which in any video game is supposed to be the most challenging) is the weakest part in the movie. The third level where G.One kills Ra.One should have been more powerful and packed with more effects. There are also lot of inconsistencies but I guess such things are pardonable in Bollywood movies.
Coming back to the strengths; the visual effects are a major plus and its obvious lot of money has gone in it. Shahrukh has acted well and his energy at this age is infectious. The character who plays his son is also good (sorry don’t know the kids real name). Arjun Rampal though plays the title role, has a smaller role as most of the times, it’s the visual effect playing Ra.One. But in all scenes, where he appears, he does look menacing. Rajnikanth's cameo was unnecessary and definitely unimpressive. Kareena (as usual) doesn’t have a role except to look pretty and dance in songs like “Chhamak Chhalo”. The music is already a hit. Most songs have been and will be on the charts for some time. I especially like “Dildaara”.
Summing up, the audience in the theatre liked it yesterday. The kids loved it. Most critics might end up giving it 3 stars and more. Overall, the movie is good and I am sure the movie will be a hit. Lastly, the way the story ends, do expect a lot more from G.One. Shahrukh definitely has plans to turn it into a franchisee concept.
