Ra.One

 

Ra.One is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language superhero film directed by Anubhav Sinha and starring Shah Rukh Khan, Armaan Verma, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Shahana Goswami and Tom Wu in pivotal roles. The script, written by Anubhav Sinha and Kanika Dhillon, originated as an idea that Anubhav Sinha got when he saw a television commercial and which he subsequently expanded. The film follows Shekhar Subramanium (Shah Rukh Khan), a game designer who creates a motion sensor-based game in which the antagonist (Ra.One) is more powerful than the protagonist (G.One). The former escapes from the game's virtual world and enters the real world; his aim is to kill Lucifer, the game ID of Shekhar's son and the only player to have challenged Ra.One's power. Relentlessly pursued, the family is forced to bring out G.One from the virtual world to defeat Ra.One and protect them.

Principal photography began in March 2010 and took place in India and the United Kingdom and was overseen by an international crew. The post-production involved 3-D conversion and the application of visual effects, the latter being recognised as a technological breakthrough among Indian films. With a budget of ₹150 crore (equivalent to ₹249 crore or US$35 million in 2019), inclusive of publicity costs, Ra.One was the most expensive Indian film at the time of release surpassing the ₹132 crore (equivalent to ₹238 crore or US$33 million in 2019) budget of Enthiran. The producers spent ₹130 crore (equivalent to ₹216 crore or US$30 million in 2019) out of a ₹52 crore (equivalent to ₹86 crore or US$12 million in 2019) marketing budget, which involved a nine-month publicity campaign, brand tie-ups, merchandise, video games and viral marketing.

The film faced controversies involving plagiarism, content leaks and copyright challenges. Consequently, Ra.One was theatrically released on 26 October 2011, the beginning of the five-day Diwali weekend, in 2D, 3D and dubbed versions in Tamil and Telugu languages, with three international premieres being held between 24 & 26 October 2011. The film witnessed the largest international theatrical release for an Indian film as of 2011, and was preceded by high audience and commercial expectations.

Upon release, Ra.One received mixed to positive reviews, with critics praising the visual effects, action sequences, music, and the performances of Khan and Rampal, but criticising the script, direction, and screenplay. Commercially, the film became the third highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2011 domestically, the second highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2011 worldwide, and broke a number of opening box office records. As the film earned more than ₹207 crores, it was considered a "Hit".The film subsequently won a number of awards for its technical aspects, notably one National Film Award, one Filmfare Award and four International Indian Film Academy Awards.

 

Plot

Shekhar Subramaniam, a game designer, has delivered a number of commercial failures; his boss gives him one last chance to develop a successful game. To impress his skeptical son Prateek, Shekhar uses his son's idea that the antagonist should be more powerful than the protagonist. Jenny Nair, his colleague, uses Shekhar's face as a model for that of the game's protagonist G.One (short for Good One and in Hindi Jeevan), while the shape-shifting antagonist Ra.One (short for Random Access Version One and in Hindi Ravan)^[6] is made faceless. The game contains three levels, the final level being the only one in which either character can be killed. Each character possesses a special device – the H.A.R.T (Hertz Amplifying Resonance Transmitter), which gives them their powers. Upon reaching the last level, the characters get a gun with one bullet; the opponent can be killed by this bullet but only if his H.A.R.T is attached.

Aakaashi, another colleague, notices unusual glitches but ignores them. When the game is officially launched, it receives a standing ovation from the audience; Prateek insists on playing it immediately. He logs in under the ID Lucifer and proceeds to the second level, but is interrupted. Ra.One, angry that a player has proceeded so far, determines that Lucifer must die. He uses the wireless technology to enter the real world. Aakaashi informs Shekhar, who rushes home, fearing for his son's life. Aakaashi is murdered by Ra.One, who then takes his appearance and hunts down Lucifer. He meets Shekhar in the process. In an attempt to save his son, Shekhar claims that he is Lucifer, but his lie is exposed when Ra.One scans his identity card. Consequently, Ra.One kills Shekhar and makes it look like a car accident.

Sonia, Shekhar's wife, is devastated after his death and decides to return to India. Prateek realises that Ra.One has come to life and was responsible for his father's death. He informs Jenny and she tries to bring G.One into the real world. Meanwhile, Ra.One kills Aakaashi's mom at her house on his killing spree while in guise of her son Aakaashi. Having murdered the old lady in his vengeance-driven carnage, Ra.One chases Prateek and Sonia on their way in a wild car chase on their way to the airport, but G.One appears, having entered the real world, and causes a gas explosion which temporarily disables Ra.One. G.One takes Ra.One's H.A.R.T. and accompanies the family to Mumbai after Sonia realises that he can protect her son.

Ra.One returns to life, takes the form of a model, and tracks down G.One. Hypnotising Sonia, he assumes her form to kidnap Prateek. Ra.One then instructs G.One to give him his H.A.R.T. back, and sends the real Sonia in a malfunctioning local train. The train crashes but G.One saves Sonia and the others in time. To save Prateek, he fights Ra.One; both reach the third level. G.One tricks Ra.One into shooting him without his H.A.R.T. attached. Furious, Ra.One creates ten copies of himself. Prateek, unable to identify the real Ra.One, remembers something his father had said to him: "If you join the forces of evil, its shadows shall always follow you". The duo realise that only one of the ten Ra.Ones has a shadow: the original one. G.One shoots Ra.One and destroys him with the sole bullet and Ra.One breaks into pieces. G.One knowing that if the pieces fall into the ground, Ra.One will regenerate. So, he went to the place where the pieces will fall and made the pieces fall in his body so that Ra.One could not regenerate himself. As the pieces fell on G.One's body, G.One began to die and before dying he told Prateek that his dad love him very much and will always be with him. After saying this G.One dies and breaks into black pieces and powder and returns to the virtual world, but his H.A.R.T remains behind.

Six months later, Prateek and Sonia return to London, where Prateek manages to restore G.One to the real world in remembrance of his late father.

 

Cast

·         Shah Rukh Khan as Shekhar Subramaniam aka G.One

·         Kareena Kapoor Khan as Sonia Subramaniam

·         Armaan Verma as Prateek Subramaniam

·         Arjun Rampal as Ra.One

·         Dalip Tahil as Barron

·         Satish Shah as Uncle

·         Priyanka Chopra cameos as Desi Girl

·         Sanjay Dutt cameos as Khalnayak

·         Suresh Menon as a taxi driver

·         Atul Sharma as an airport security guard.

·         Ben Hawkey as Billy

·         Delnaaz Irani as a schoolteacher aboard the hijacked train.

·         Lauranza Harvey as a British woman present as the conference in the beginning of the film.

·         Georgia Curtis as a backing dancer at the party.

·         Shahana Goswami as Jenny Nair

·         Tom Wu as Aakaashi

·         Chai Yin as Aakaashi's mother.

·         Rajnikanth cameos as Chitti the robot

·         Charanpreet Singh as Airport Goon