Cast – Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Armaan Verma, Arjun Rampal
Directed by – Anubhav Sinha
Synopsis – The movie revolves around a game that comes to life. Shekhar (Sharukh Khan) is the head of the games division of his company. He tries to be a super hero “cool” dad for his son Prateek (Armaan Verma). Prateek asks for a game that has a invincible super villain and the father, Shekhar, designs it. But things begin to go wrong, when the game starts controlling young Prateek and the super villain, Ra.One, Arjun Rampal, comes to life. It’s a good guy vs bad guy movie where the good guy manages to win despite all odds.
Review – There are some who have called Ra.One as Shah Rukh Khan’s “most expensive midlife crisis”. But is it really true? It is the first time that India has had its very own mega blockbuster with such special effects. The action scenes are good and will hold you enthralled. There is a scene in which G.One, the super hero, walks sideways on the train and one in which he stops a train, barehanded.
The scene with Rajnikanth has the veteran showing his trademark scene of flying goggles, which G.One replicates it to perfection. The story is not too good and if you are looking for a meaningful story, then you will be disappointed. The dialogues are meaningless and the songs are okay.
It is worth watching though, especially for the special effects. The good robot G.One is a Shekhar look alike and fights the bad robot Ra.One. Ra.One, as Shekhar’s son, Prateek wanted is invincible and can take any form he chooses. If you are a Hollywood fan, you will be reminded of Terminator, Frankenstein, Bicentennial Man and Matrix.
The robot, G.One, gets attached to the family that it is protecting, much like Arnold Schwarznegger of Terminator. The super villain and super hero, with their trench coats will remind you of Matrix. And Sonia’s (Kareena Kapoor), love for the superhero, is reminiscent of Bicentennial Man.
Despite the larger than life characters and the special effects and the costumes, what makes the movie a drag is that it does not come together. There are times, when you are left wondering what is missing.
Shah Rukh Khan should have shone in his home production, but does not. As an action hero, his acting talent fails to impress you. There is one scene that stands out where the protagonist, G.One, is shown as brooding intensely, while sitting atop a car in London and here you hope that perhaps the action will begin. But it does not.
Though Ra.One has a little of everything, action, drama, comedy and romance, it does not impress as much as the promos led us to believe.
Rating – 2.5 stars
