Starcast: Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Shahana Goswami, Armaan Verma, Satish Shah, Dalip Tahil.
Special Appearances: Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Rajnikanth
Director: Anubhav Sinha

Ra One Review

Ra One has been a huge part of our lives over the last few months, the build-up to Shahrukh Khan’s most ambitious movie ever has been huge. All of it finally comes to an end today with it’s theatrical release.

With the way it was marketed, the expectations from Ra One was unbelievably high. Quite frankly, that’s not always such a good thing. With sky-high expectations, the risk of disappointing the audience is quite high too.

Unfortunately, Ra One disappoints. We genuinely wanted to like the film, but apart from the 30 odd minutes in the second half, there is nothing that touches you and absolutely nothing that creates the kind of adrenaline-rush that good superhero films should.

What works for Ra One

The best thing about Ra One is Kareena Kapoor. The actress looks stunning, oozing sensuality in two fantastic songs – Criminal and Chammak Challo. When it comes to on-screen histrionics, not many actresses in the industry come close to Kareena and she proves that yet again in Ra One. It has to be one of her most likable performances since Jab We Met.

Tremendous amount of work has gone into making Ra One the most technologically advanced film in India and it’s evident in every scene. Both the visual and sound effects are outstanding. Not close to Hollywood standards, but for the budget that the film has been made on, it’s brilliant!

Why Ra One disappoints

In short, Ra One lacks soul. There are three important tracks in the movie; One, the love story between Kareena and G.One. Two, the relationship between Shekhar (later G.One) and his son. And finally, the good vs bad rivalry between G.One and R.One. None of them work, you simply do not feel for any of the characters. (*Spoiler alert – Do not read if you haven’t watched the film* There were people in the theater laughing when Shekhar Subramanium dies, which is just one example of the movie not connecting with the audience)

The first half is mediocre, the second half starts off well but scenes leading to the climax are bad. Ra One also reminds you of the Hollywood classic, Terminator 2.

The special appearances by Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra and Rajnikanth add to the star value, but both sequences fail to make any impact.

Performances

Shahrukh Khan is good as G.One, but as Shekhar Subramanium he tends to overact. Kareena was brilliant. Arjun Rampal was good, but has a shorter than expected role. Armaan Verma who plays SRK’s son, does a decent job. All the other actors including Shahana Goswami, Satish Shah and Dalip Tahil are wasted.

To sum things up

Considering the years of hard work and money that has gone into the making, it hurts to say this – Ra One had immense potential to be a very good film, but it isn’t. Not even close. The biggest flaw is the script and the direction.

Rating:

Everyone has a different opinion and we’d love to know what you think of Ra One. Do post your Ra One reviews below.