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Ra.One:Can it get bigger than this one?

Oct 19, 2011 | 8 comments

Even those who don’t follow movies can’t escape seeing Shahrukh. He is on TV in every award show, every reality show,  on newspapers, magazines, talking about his new file Raone which will be released this Diwali on 26th Oct 2011.
Ra.one sounding like Raavan is about the relationship between father and son. Son,Prateek Subramanium a.k.a. Lucifer(played by Armaan Verma), thinks his father, game developer Shekhar Subramanium(Shahrukh Khan), isn’t cool or stud enough. He tries to ‘dude-up’ his dad from ‘aiiiyyyo’ to ‘YO!’ . The  mother, Sonia(Kareena Kapoor) is lost in translation between her husband’s ‘ingeva’ and her son’s ‘innit’. Just when the father-son duo hit a deadlock, Shekhar strikes gold when he designs a game.Finally it all starts falling in place. But then villain, Ra.one (technically Random Access Version One) comes out in the real world, creating havoc. All hell breaks loose when the game that was meant to be played with, starts playing them.To combat the Ra.One in flies G.One(or Jeevan), the superhero with a H.A.R.T., played by Shekhar.

Directed by Anubhav Sinha, the movie stars Shah Rukh Khan, Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor, Armaan Verma, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Satish Shah, Dalip Tahil, Shahana Goswami, Suresh Menon and Tom Wu. Rajinikanth performed in a special scene where he would be reprising his role of Chitti from Enthiran or Robot .

It  classic good versus evil plot with few different dimensions added to the superhero world. It is about good winning over evil. SRK calls it a “father-son story”.  “When (director) Anubhav (Sinha) narrated the film to me, what I liked about it was that it was a family film. It’s about relationships, comedy, happiness, sadness… all that you see in a family. And when you break out of the house, you have this massive kickass action. I think it’s a great mix,”.Ref:Dainik Bhasker

According to  Anubhav Sinha, the idea of making Ra.One originated while he was watching a commercial on television which dealt with two kids controlling a human with a remote.

Music of Raone

Music of Ra.one is by Vishal & Shekhar who are synonymous with new sound.  The album released on 12 September 2011, features fifteen tracks, including seven original songs, four remixes, three instrumentals and an international version of Chammak Challo.  Some of the songs are Chammak Challo(Song sung by Senegalese American R&B recording artist and songwriter Akon), Dildaara – Stand By M’,Criminal, Bhare Naina, Right By Your Side, Raftaarein, Jiya Mora Ghabraaye – The Chase,Comes The Light – Theme. The Tamil and Telugu versions of the film’s soundtrack were released on 10 October 2011 featuring six tracks each. The makers of the film have complied with international copyright laws and have obtained the license to use Ben E. King‘s “Stand By Me“, on which they have based the song “Dildaara”.  For details Bollywood Hungama

The release

Ra.One  movie is to be released on Diwali on Wednesday 26th Oct having a five-day opening weekend. Ra.One will have it’s international premieres in cities – Dubai(24 Oct), London(25 Oct) and Toronto(26Oct). It will be released in 3,500 screens worldwide in 2D and around 550 screens in 3D,along with its dubbed versions inTamil, Telugu. Ra.One has also sold the largest number of prints to South Korea (200), followed by Taiwan (25). The film has also been dubbed in German with 15-20 prints sold in Germany.For comparison Salman Khan’s Bodyguard had hit 2,600 screens and raked in Rs 105 crore in its first week. In the process, it became the second largest Bollywood grosser worldwide after 3 Idiots released two years ago.

SRK’s record on Diwali releases has been impeccable — from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Don to Om Shanti Om. For the past five years, there has been one big hit every Diwali. Ra.One can potentially have an opening bigger than Bodyguard, However, whether it crosses 3 Idiots and becomes No. 1 will depend on how the audience receives it and how it fares the second week onward.

Cost of making the movie

Ra.one is approximately worth Rs 150 crore. It’s Bollywood’s costliest film. A third of the film’s budget has gone into special effects. Ra.One boasts of 3,500 VFX shots, James Cameron’s Avatar had just 2,700.

Shahrukh said Anubhav told me that the cost of shooting for a day on the sets of Ra.One was actually equal to the entire cost of his first film Tum Bin, which was produced by Bhushan Kumar of T-Series (Ref: blog.bigcinemas.com)

Marketing cost has come to Rs 52-crore. The movie is being promoted through brand tie-ups(, over 25) such as Sony PlayStation, YouTube, Nerolac, McDonald’s, Western Union Money Transfer, UTV Indiagames, Videocon, Nokia, Coke, ESPN Star Sports and Cinthol among others(Ref:Moneycontrol) .Shahrukh said The goodness that a movie star helps a lot in marketing.  He is inspired by Hollywood whose film marketing budget is 30-40% of the film budget and their film budgets are 100 million.

  •  Red Chillies Entertainment have a tie-up with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe(SCEE) to build a full cycle game of the film on PlayStation Ra.One – The Game.  The project boasts of a series of firsts: a first full cycle BluRay PS3 game developed with an Indian developer; first console game to be dubbed by a leading Bollywood actor and also the first Bollywood title to appear as a full cycle PlayStation game.More..
  • Red Chillies also collaborated with UTV Indiagames to design a social game based on the film named the Ra.One Genesis. The game reached the No. 1 position on the iTunes store within 24 hours of its launch, becoming the first ever Bollywood movie app to be top-featured on iPhone and iPad. One can play it on Facebook here.
  • Red Chillies announced that they have collaborated with UTV Indiagames to develop digital comics based on the film’s character.Written by Shahrukh Khan, the comic has weekly episodes and serves as a prequel to the events happening in the movie. Read here and to see a sample click here..
  • McDonald will have a Happy Meal with a Ra.one toy in the  box with rocking the Ra.One art.It has never happened for Indian movie.More..
  • Ra.One has tied with Godrej appliances. More..
  • Ra.One will be on the racing car in F1 race being held in Oct in in India.
  • Ra.One’s official website includes a slew of tie-ins like games, a graphic novel and a shop for merchandise for 50 products such as toys, electronics(tablet), apparels, stationary which are priced highthe cheapest water bottle is at Rs 177.45.
  • Horlicks for the first time has come up with a Special Edition RA.ONE pack.  The collector’s pack is available, in Chocolate flavor in 500gms and 1kg. The packs have a special gift for all the RA.ONE fans. On pouring hot Horlicks in the mug, they will see G.ONE come alive on a free Magic mug with the 500g special edition pack, and a Ra. One branded thermo jar with the 1 kg pack.
    merchandise

    Merchandise

How will the movie recover the money

Eros International and Red Chillies have already recovered a major portion of their investments through in-film branding, media endorsements and pre-licensing cable and satellite rights, music and other rights. Table shows some costs:

Projected Overseas Business Rs. 45 crore
Satellite Rights Rs. 40 crore
Music Rights Rs. 7 crore
Tamil & Telugu Dubbed Versions’ Business Rs. 1 crore
India Theatrical Business Rs. 70 crore
Total Rs 163 crore

The calculations and estimations reveal that Ra.One may, after all, not be the risky proposal it is assumed to be Only if, God forbid, the film doesn’t find acceptance will recovery of the unduly high cost of the film be an impossibility for Shah Rukh. Otherwise, SRK doesn’t need to really worry. (Ref:koimoi)

Why Shahrukh made the movie

Youngest country in the world in the next 3-4 years, exposed to world cinema, fears that they would stop watching our own films, local films, regional films. We need to make them look as cool, as international as the world cinema because that’s what they are used to. I thought Ra.One, superhero, would be a genre which can create that. He also wanted to bring a new technology into cinema VFX.

Shahrukh as Super Hero

Bollywood has had it’s superheros: Krrish (Hritik Roshan 2006), Drona (Abhishek Bachchan 2008) , Robot( Endhiran  RajniKant 2010) .  Ra.One has faced multiple allegations of plagiarism and similarities with other film projects, including the 2010 Robot. When asked about this, Khan noted: “I got inspired from a lot of superhero movies but the movie is original. In fact, Ra.One will be the first superhero-based movie in the world in which the superhero lives in a family” AsiaOne on comparison between the two movies. Pinkvilla with images which shows the inspirations of some of the Ra.one scenes.
Ra.One vs Robot
We have been in love with impulsive, exuberant Shahrukh, his arched brow, deep dimples, outstretched arms and half-smile, the romantic Raj and Rahul.  Will Shahrukh be able reinvent himself as superhero? Will he make our hearts go dhak dhak?

Rule Breaker

Shahrukh Khan has been a rule breaker breaking  the rules of Bollywood. He came from television (Fauji, Circus) with no family background who made it big in Bollywood. He did negative rules(Baazigar and Daar) who made us love him in spite him being on the wrong side.  His looks nothing to write home about, he is not the tall, dark, handsome, the Mills and Boons hero but when girls (of all ages) see him they say “Kuch Kuch hota hai”. He is happily married to his first love Gauri with two kids and women adore him for his loyalty in the tempting Bollywood.He not only acts in moviesbut also  in ads and TV shows. He endorses innumerable products. He sings and dances at the marriage functions and owns the Kolkata Knight Riders.He is smart guy for  his team Kolkata Knight Rider was the only team which made money in IPL 1 inspite being on the bottom of the table. Maybe this will work too!

Dialogues

Some dialogues from the movie Ref
  • Superhero banta nahi hain muscle or metal parts sai, Superhero banta hain sirf apne heart (HART) sai (A superhero is a superhero because of his heart, not because of muscles or metal parts.)
  • Budai sang jo mel rachaya, phir kabhi naa chhute uska saaya.(If you join the forces of evil, there is no turning around…)
  • Main aisa game banaunga, jisme villain kabhi nahin harega(I’ll make a game in which the villain never loses…)
  • Ladai goliyon se nahin, dil se jeeti jati hain(Bullets don’t win you a battle, your heart does…)
  • Tum log har saal raavan ko isi din jalate ho kyunki tum jaante ho ke raavan kabhi nahi marta (you guys burn raavan every year because you know that raavan never dies) .

Belief

Shahrukh says “The main thing in any sport and the main thing in filmmaking is only one — belief. I am a big believer of selling dreams. Everything comes at a price… life comes at a price tag of death itself. Except for the emotions that parents and children share, everything is for sale… I don’t come for free either. You can make me do an item number in films, dance at a wedding, do street theatre as long as it makes people smile. I am a proud seller of dreams… and as long as it makes people smile, I will do it,” he said.

Expectations from the movie are Humungous. There is tremendous curiosity and eagerness for it. Will it be able to avoid the fate of similar sounding movie featuring Abhishek and Aisywara?  Can a single film prove that this superstar is a superhero, outclass its predecessors in sci-fi appeal, while also yanking our heartstrings with a story about sons learning to appreciate their fathers, as well as, of course, adding a splash of back-up dancers writhing in tiny shorts? Is it the technically the  best India has ever seen and on par with Hollywood? Will it break the record of 3 Idiots? Will Shahrukh prove to be king of marketing? Will Ra.One will set new benchmarks?

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8 Comments

  1. Ruhi on October 28, 2011 at 1:36 PM

    This article captures almost everything of the movie Ra.one. Greatly written. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful article.

    Reply
    • admin on October 29, 2011 at 4:40 AM

      Thanks Ruhi. We wrote this article with the intent of a reader finding everything(well almost) about Ra.one here.
      Thanks for comment..it encourages us

      Reply
  2. Pramod on October 21, 2011 at 7:22 PM

    such an exclusive take. great homework done on it.
    excellent.

    Reply
    • admin on October 22, 2011 at 2:42 AM

      Thanks Pramod. Shahrukh and Ra.one is an exclusive movie so the post had to be exclusive 🙂

      Reply
  3. Deepak Doddamani on October 19, 2011 at 9:45 PM

    That was complete Encyclopedia on Ra.One,
    I am surely waiting for it now.
    Thanks 4 so much research and sharing it with us.

    Regards,
    Deepak Doddamani

    Reply
    • admin on October 20, 2011 at 3:43 AM

      Thanks Deepak. We tried to cover all aspects of Ra.one and yes that takes a little more research.
      Thanks for the comment.

      Reply
  4. Arti on October 19, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    Superheroes movies have not yet hit the mark with the Indian audience till now, what will be the fate of this one… Only time will tell! Thanks for this wonderful comprehensive coverage giving us a sneak peak into the movie!

    Reply
    • admin on October 21, 2011 at 3:58 AM

      Thanks Arti for liking it. Krish was a successful movie but yes you are right Superhero movies are not that
      popular with Indian audience. When a hero can easily bash 10-15 bad men who needs a super hero?

      Reply

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