STORY
RATING : 3/5
Story: The story is about a father and his relationship with his son. Shekhar Subramanium (Shahrukh Khan) tries everything possible to impress his son, but Pratik (Armaan Verma) believes that his father is not so cool. In an effort to impress his son, Shekhar designs a game which changes their lives. The game which was meant to be played, starts playing with their lives, marking the entry of Ra.One and G.One.
Story Treatment: With months of promotional activities, Ra.One has tremendous curiosity value attached to it. The story juggles between Sci-Fi and Bollywood drama and leaves the audience enthralled in parts. The first half depicts various shades of a father-son relationship whereas, post interval the action unfolds. However, the script tends to lose its track by making the efforts tasteless. Comparisons with Rajinikanth’s Robot and SRK’s Ra.One are bound to happen, especially in sequences built upon the same track. For instance, the train chase sequence brings back flashes of Chitti and his robotic skills, when compared with the aerial G-One.
Star Cast: Shahrukh as Shekhar is innocent, crystal sharp and natural. King Khan as G-One tries to carry the aura of superhero with immense poise, but is caged as a ‘family superhero’ rather than messiah of all. Kareena Kapoor (Sonia Subramanium), as always, manages to be easy on the eyes with her great looks and acting calibre. She also makes one realise that even in a superhero film, a heroine is a must. Armaan Verma is a superb pick for his role, as he sinks into the character perfectly, sometimes even outshining established stars like SRK and Kareena. Rajinikanth, rightly referred to as the ‘Real Superhero’ in the movie as well, steals the show within few seconds of his entry and makes the crowd clap and whistle with his mere presence. Arjun Rampal walks away with the cake for his deadly looks and impresses as the real bad man. Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra are wasted. Satish Shah’s presence induces a few funny moments. Shahana Goswami plays her part well.
Direction: What’s noteworthy about Anubhav Sinha’s work is the fact that he has paid attention to the quaint essential bit on the technological front and also, infused the right amount of emotional dose required for the movie to be termed an entertainer. The director makes his star cast look the best, yet loses few points as the track is led astray. At the same time, Anubhav understands the demand of Bollywood fans and tries to keep all the elements.
Dialogue/cinematography/music: Dialogues are a concoction of emotions with a message which runs throughout the movie, almost forming its soul- Victory of good over evil. Cinematography is excellent, while music is decent. Chammak Chhallo, which is already riding high on the popularity chart, lives up to the hype created, while Dildaara displays the love and emotional saga between Kareena and Shahrukh.
3ups and Down: Ra.One is surely crafted as a kids’ entertainer. Compared to Chitti, the emotional side of G-One takes a hit. SRK’s fans, who have been missing him on the silver screen after ‘My Name Is Khan’, can grab this opportunity to see their hero in a never-seen-before avatar. The movie is a joyful cinematic experience for game enthusiasts.
COLLECTIONS:
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan's Ra.One fails to cheer the box office on day one of its opening on October 26. BoxofficeIndia.com data indicate that the film collected only Rs 14.63 crore from the domestic box office as against the estimated Rs 25 crore.
The day one collections are well below Rs 22 crores that Salman Khan's Bodyguard clocked and on par with Rs 14.5 crores of Dabbang, the record holders. The low collections on day one is despite the fact that Ra.One was released in 1500 screens more than Bodyguard and Dabbang and also had 500 3D screens release with higher ticket prices.
Industry observers had expected the film to break Bodyguard's records due to higher number of prints and the extraordinary hype. However, Eros International, the co-producers of the film claim that Ra.One has approximately grossed Rs 18.5 crore on the first day at the domestic box office.
According to Mutliplex officials, while the morning shows starting from 10 am were houseful on Wednesday, the collections fell from 1 pm in the afternoon at most places and did not really recover till late evening.
However, the fate of the film cannot be yet decided based on just day one's earnings. The final verdict on Ra.One will be out after this weekend. Golmaal 3 which released last Diwali grossed only Rs.8 crore, but later went on to cross Rs.100 crores at the domestic box office over a period of three weeks.
Vishal Anand, senior vice president, operations and sales, of Fun Cinemas, a multiplex chain, says, "It is unfair to compare an Eid release with a Diwali release (homes in North India generally have Laxmi puja in the afternoons on the Diwali day. This year, the muhurat was between 5-11pm. Today, (Thursday) will be the D-day for Ra.One. Print to print, Bodyguard yielded better returns."
The reviews of the film are mixed. But Anand says that it is a family film and kids (6-15 year olds) come to the theatre only with parents and they are liking the film. Komal Nahta, editor of Koimoi, a box office tracking website says: "People are overreacting to the first day numbers. We have to wait and watch." Nahta however is certain that going by the reports, this film holds no chance of breaking the record of all time blockbusters, Aamir Khan's 3 Idiots. "It is an above average film at the box office, at this juncture," he adds.
If the film fails at the box office will it be a setback for brand SRK? It is early to take a call on that say industry experts and are of the opinion that the failure of Ra.One is in no way going to affect the personality or brand value of SRK.
Sunil Punjabi, CEO of Cinemax multiplex, says that the distributors are erred by releasing lesser number of 3D prints. "Infact, we are expecting second time audience, who missed the 3D version on day one. With the kind of effects in the film, Ra.One has taken the quality of Indian movies to a new level. Family and kids will love it and we are expecting them to flock the theatres this weekend. The numbers on Thursday is certainly up there with Bodyguard". He further adds that the weekend advance booking are ahead of Bodyguard too.
Punjabi feels that there was sky-high expectation created due to the marketing hype which is one of the main reasons for the disappointment. Thursday is very strong and multiplexes claim they have collected almost one-third of first day's collection within the first two shows of the day.
According to industry insiders, when public compare Ra.One with Bodyguard it certainly is below par. But, if the movie crosses Rs.18 crores on day two, it can be termed as a hit and if it is below, Rs.16 crores it is going to be an average grosser and going by the early reports from the multiplexes on Thursday, the movie is well on its way to become a hit.
