Ra.One (2011; Cameo) – Review in English

In this film Sanjay does only a cameo!

About the story: Prateek (Armaan Verma) loves computer games and especially the villains. His father, game designer Shekhar Subramaniam (Shahrukh Khan), is everything else than a hero for him. When Shekhar is to design a new game for his boss Barron (Dalip Tahil), he developes for his son, together with Jenny (Shabana Goswami) and Akashi (Tom Wu), a villain who's as good as invincible and names the game after him: Ra.One. The Hero who's to fight Ra.One is formed upon Shekhar and called G.One. Prateek is thrilled and tries out the game at once – not knowing that Ra.One grows more and more powerful with every minute. Finally Ra.One manages to transfer into the real world where, according to his programming, he can take every shape (among others Arjun Rampal). On the search for his opponent Prateek he kills first Akashi and then Shekhar. While Shekhar's widow Sonia (Kareena Kapoor) flees with Prateek, Jenny manages to transfer even superhero G.One (Shahrukh Khan) into the real world for the purpose to stop Ra.One...


"A big hug to Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra" it says at the start of the credits. It's the producers' thanks for Sanjay's and Priyanka's cameo at the beginning of the film in a dream sequence of little Prateek who dreams of his father being a big hero saving Desi Girl (Priyanka hilarious in her portrayal of a damsel in distress) from the evil Khalnayak's clutches. With his beefed-up Kancha Cheena body (Sanjay had taken a break from the Agneepath schedule to shoot for Ra.One) and announced by quotes from his 1993 super hit Khalnayak, Sanjay plays the cool villain with relish. Though the special effects in this scene are not really thrilling – this little dream sequence is fun to watch, especially as it's the first time Sanjay and SRK are sharing screen space, barring the short counter dance in Om Shanti Om.

But after the movie's 11th minute this scene is over. What now? If you watch the film just because of Sanjay you might as well turn the player off now and turn to something else. If you watch it because of SRK then of course you'll stay glued till the end as Ra.One is one big SRK show which sidelines all the other actors – even the gorgeous Kareena Kapoor who only gets few chances to show her acting skills (but these chances she absolutely takes). Arjun Rampal, actually the movie's title hero, unfortunately appears only in a few scenes as Ra.One keeps taking different shapes (e g that of the splendid Tom Wu). And the worst fate of all had Shahana Goswami as the ace game designer who simply was written out of the story after the interval.

As SRK kept assuring in his nearly a year long promotional overkill for Ra.One, the special effects are mostly indeed better than many a VFX scene seen in Indian movies till now. Too bad they were made at the cost of a stringent (and flawfree) story* and a better integration of the other characters who had to accept the fact that everything in this movie revolves around SRK who, alas, didn't even bother to go for acting fine-tuning. But why should he, as long as the major part of his audience obviously is happy enough when SRK plays Shahrukh Khan on the silver screen.

*Concerning this I recommend for your amusement The Vigil Idiot's (not spoiler-free) comic review. Have fun. ☺

Produced by Gauri Khan; Directed by Anubhav Sinha
156 Min.; DVD: Eros, English Subtitles (including Songs); Bonus DVD: Deleted Scenes, Making of the film, Akon recording, Making of songs 1. Chammak Challo 2. Criminal, Ra.One London Premier, Ra.One Trailer Launch
© Diwali