In the mid-nineteen-eighties, when a fair-sized ruckus was raised about Shiva Ka Insaaf being India’s first 3-D superhero film, the response was a barely stifled yawn. Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna, lazily scratching their chest hair, could run faster than speeding bullets and clear tall buildings in a single bound, and we never thought to ask questions. We were weaned on valorous epics, and we didn’t need elaborate backstories about dispatches from exploding planets and the salubrious effects of a red sun. Why bother about a superhero who became a superhero only because he was able to channel the powers of Shiva, and who needed a perplexing costume change while doling out vigilante justice? That is why Endhiran/Robot felt somewhat redundant. With any other actor, the transformation from man to metal might have proved auspicious – but Rajinikanth? He could whip up tornadoes with his feet when he was a mere human, and now we told that technology was needed for the superstar to become Superman – as if he were Shah Rukh Khan.
The most intriguing aspect of Anubhav Sinha’s Ra.One is that it is a heroic story that revolves around a hero whose persona is as far removed as possible from that of the virile heroes of the vintage Hindi action movie. After Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, I said, “I must say I continue to be intrigued by what appears to be Yash Raj’s ongoing mission to neuter the Hindi film hero. When Surinder and Taani go to the movies, he’s the one who sobs through the typically teary dramas, while she prefers the full-on masala entertainers where one he-man can apparently take on an entire village. And speaking of action, this film’s equivalent of a fight sequence occurs when Taani is insulted – but instead of Raj galloping to her rescue, she hops on a motorbike and avenges herself. (He sits behind her, petrified, holding her purse.) In a subsequent scene, Bobby explains to a bewildered Surinder the meaning of the word “macho.” The only cut more unkind may be that, even without heels, the heroine towers over the hero.” Looking back, I wonder if I gave Yash Raj too much credit, Shah Rukh too little, for no hero, before or since, has so consistently perched himself upon the fence between the traditional roles of hero and heroine. The non-action heroes before him, whether Rajesh Khanna or Rajendra Kumar, were men who were simply in touch with their emotions, the way poets and drunks are. But Shah Rukh took emasculation to its Everest.
In Ra.One, Shah Rukh’s man parts are imperiled by break-dancing, a wayward football and fire. He drives a yellow Beetle, the kind of car last favoured by Sonam Kapoor in Aisha. After he assumes the form of a video-game character named G.One, his son reaches out and touches his smooth face as if in a soap commercial, like the one for Lux where Shah Rukh famously lay amidst rose petals. He then wraps himself in Kareena Kapoor’s dupatta, and in what may be a belated wink at Vir Sanghvi – who asked Shah Rukh, on a talk show, if he were bisexual – he cups Kareena’s breast as well as Arjun Rampal’s family jewels. (After a point, you’re no longer sure if a line like “Uske paas bahut badi bandook hai” is a warning or a personal ad.) Shah Rukh is, quite simply, the last person you’d imagine as a superhero – and it’s a relief that Ra.One isn’t exactly a superhero movie. Early word indicated that this would be one of those movies where our stars would act in their kind of movie, while it’s actually a case of their technology being employed in our kind of movie. Ra.One is, in a loose sense, Kasme Vaade possessed by the spirit of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. A man dies, is reincarnated in a lookalike, and finds a way to stop the unstoppable bad guy (Rampal), who happens to be able to assume the form of whoever he touches. The film is best experienced as old wine in an expensive new bottle, with nicely wrought visual effects.
Either intentionally or inadvertently, Ra.One has turned out to be the kind of film Bollywood doesn’t make anymore, the tearjerker family drama cum comedy cum action extravaganza, which, of course, was the mainstay of Hindi cinema in the nineteen-seventies and eighties. There’s plenty of talk about dil. There are special appearances by Ramlila and Karwa Chauth, and the movie borrows its philosophy from the Gita, about a soul shedding one body and entering another like a change of clothes. More moral instruction arrives through a reference to Old Bollywood, referencing the lines neki pe chalen aur badi se talen taaki haste hue nikale dum from Do Aankhen Baarah Haath. A runaway locomotive resembles a remnant from The Burning Train, and the spirit of its music composer, RD Burman, is invoked in a teera… para para refrain that underscores the action scenes. The heroine is one of those flighty creatures from the older films whose mood changes from scene to scene, less a part than a prop. The hero comes between a loved one and a fusillade of space-agey shrapnel. And a Tamilian caricature is rendered so outrageously that I laughed in disbelief – he returns to his home after a day at work and heads straight to a shrine, humming Vatapi Ganapatim bhajeham.
So how does one respond to Ra.One? With a silly smile – that would be my recommendation. It doesn’t take itself very seriously (which is what made Krrish intolerable; Ra.One is merely inoffensive), even if much of what it tries to pass off as comedy carries the whiff of Karan Johar’s stale leftovers. It has a scene where the heroine pulls a remarkably long strand of mucus from the hero’s nostril, which may be a giveaway that children are the primary target audience. Shah Rukh fans should be happy too, for their blue-eyed boy is literally blue-eyed here. (The other avatar, however, is coiffed in curls that suggest a hasty reject from Farhan Akhtar’s wigmakers.) Shah Rukh sighs, at one point, “Kya karoon – sab ladkiyaan mujhpe marti hain,” and the refrain from the title song of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai plays in the background. As I said, this isn’t a film that embraces tomorrow as much as it celebrates yesterday, and its most remarkable achievement may be that, with one foot tentatively toeing the future and one stuck resolutely in the past, it didn’t end up peeing all over itself.
Copyright ©2011 Baradwaj Rangan. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
vijay
October 27, 2011
“That is why Endhiran/Robot felt somewhat redundant. With any other actor, the transformation from man to metal might have proved auspicious – but Rajinikanth?”
If you look at it that way most Rajni movies since Moondru mugam are probably “redundant.”
At the very least Endhiran had a few things different going for it when compared with the assembly line masalas of KS Ravikumar or Pee Vasu or Shankar’s own vigilante stuff
Even Raja freaking Sen has opined that Ra One sucks as compared to Robot. That must mean something I guess. Not that I’ll bother to find out
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rameshram
October 27, 2011
my only problem with this film is that no one except Kareena Kapoor seems to hae enough invested(certainly not the audience or the kids in it) for it to remain in memory for five seconds after you leave the theater.
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Thinkerbelle
October 27, 2011
This is by far the kindest review I have read of Ra.One.
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Harish S Ram
October 28, 2011
“with one foot tentatively toeing the future and one stuck resolutely in the past, it didn’t end up peeing all over itself” tht would sum up the experience of watching Ra.one – its has its moments – i wonder y some cant appreciate it and talk incessantly bad about. like you expected sharukh to deliver a masterpiece here!
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Aisha Usman
October 28, 2011
i have no idea what the auuthot tried saying here….was he praising the movie?or putting SRK down…and the first para got me confused…was this a review abt RNBDJ???I have seen the movie and i feel its a very good balance between technology and emotions….only SRK can come up with somethng like this….
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Chhote Saab
October 28, 2011
you have been kind to the film as compared to some other crictics, but then a lot of others don’t get bollywood potboiler masala like you do …….. The public I think prefer the macho Bodyguard over the metrosexual Surinder/G.One/Shekhar.
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KayKay
October 28, 2011
“And a Tamilian caricature is rendered so outrageously that I laughed in disbelief – he returns to his home after a day at work and heads straight to a shrine, humming Vatapi Ganapatim bhajeham.”
Such poor research! Don’t they know we Southies do that BEFORE we head for work, and not after:-)
And what’s your opinion on the cameo by a Tamil Cine Icon?
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Anuj
October 28, 2011
Iske liye toh star rating banta hi hai Rangan sir! Going by the kind of extreme(at both ends) response this .One has received, want to know how much you liked it. 🙂
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Mohan
October 28, 2011
@Rangan
” it didn’t end up peeing all over itself.”
Hmm… Almost all reviews(and word-of-mouth from twitter, fb and acquaintances who had watched the movie) indicated pretty clearly that the case was the exact opposite.
Most also concurred that Endhiran was a far better film, though the VFX was said to be better in Ra.One.
Is it just you being contrary-for-the-heck-of-it again?
BTW, saw 7am arivu yet?
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Mohan
October 28, 2011
@rangan
Off-topic:
Since you often mention aesthetics of movie like title fonts in credits, I thought this would interest you.
A very stylish and meaningful logo for an upcoming film. I think you may even derive more meaning from it than I did.
Do tell me what you thought of it.
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kaos
October 28, 2011
Why did you do this?! Noooooooooooo…after all the terrible reviews this has been getting everywhere, I thought I could safely skip. Now you’ve gone and made it intriguing and such-like. Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!
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brangan
October 28, 2011
vijay: Er, which movie after Moondru Mugam had tech-assisted Rajinii machismo? He was just good ol’ human, no? 🙂 BTW, I was not comparing the two films at all. Surely you, as a long term reader, know better 🙂
rameshram: Yeah, there’s nothing memorable about it. And you were expecting otherwise in a film by Anubhav Sinha? 🙂 Like Harish S Ram says, it came, it did its job, it went. Just another so-so Friday at the movies.
KayKay: That was a nice cameo, but he didn’t look or move very well. I wonder how he’s going to complete Rana and so forth looking so haggard.
Chhote Saab / Thinkerbelle: I’m not sure I agree with the word “kind.” Surely that’s not the same as giving a movie considered thought (like I do with any film I review).
Mohan: Today. The design was quite brilliant, I thought.
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Venki
October 28, 2011
Was put off by the film. Don’t know if I was just on a different page. Maybe the fact that they’ve stereotyped the stereotype behind a ‘Madrasi’ was one reason. And I was laughing at all the serious sequences and all the attempted comedy, directed to the male and female parts, was wince worthy.
And saar… nenja thottu sollunga. Superstar cameo was giving MS Bhaskar ku chitti make up pottu vutta feel. Wrist slitting experience.
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Seetharaman Ganesan
October 28, 2011
i haven’t seen ra.one and i’m no fan of shah rukh and i agree with your take on shah rukh characters being atop the fence between heroes and heroines, but i sense derision and anger at the ’emasculation’ of a lead actor. is there something wrong with that? in actuality, few of us men ‘are’ macho in the literal sense of the word though we may ‘feel’ so. that doesn’t necessarily mean the cinematic avatars of shah rukh are a reflection of the indian male.
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Nimmi Rangswamy
October 28, 2011
You are a softie for SRK!. I like that this review by skirting critique and focusing on SRK is saying please don’t bother please go to watch it if you like SRK. No?
I think your ‘neutering’ points are bang on. SRK invests in dupattta draping time and again [a yellow one in DDLJ in think]. Its definitely courageous anti-machismo but he muddied the waters with the 6 pack abs-fab but that’s the latter day SRK …
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brangan
October 28, 2011
Seetharaman Ganesan: “derision and anger”? Not at all. I haven’t laid out an opinion about this aspect of the SRK persona — just stated it like I saw it. “Emasculation” is just a word, not necessarily a pejorative.
Nimmi Rangswamy: Hah, you should have been here a few years ago when I was being slotted as an SRK-hater! Forget which reviews though.
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rameshram
October 28, 2011
“And you were expecting otherwise in a film by Anubhav Sinha?”
oh you STILL watch films based on director’s talents? I expected a shah rukh khan film to be wrong, but have bite, like my name is khan..
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rameshram
October 28, 2011
(to add, aren’t most directors just glorified pimps to the audience these days?)
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Nimmi Rangswamy
October 28, 2011
On the ‘neutering/emasculation’ issue, some academic types call this ‘feminizing’ the hero and noted Yash Chopra for feminizing the ‘Lamhe’ Anil Kapoor as opposed to a determined Sri Devi and somewhat ruining its chances at the box office. But SRK pushed this trope all the way to the box-office!
I can’t remember another writer/reviewer articulating this SRK quality as much. Of course it’s great that you do it so well.
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vijay
October 28, 2011
“Er, which movie after Moondru Mugam had tech-assisted Rajinii machismo? He was just good ol’ human, no?”
That was my point actually. He does some of the same things but a little differently in Endhiran, in a format that has not been seen before(atleast in Tamil Rajni films). Not the usual Annamalai, Padayappa route. The last thing you would expect is having Rajni in a sci-fi inspired movie with high stakes. But then the VFX, the machismo-less Rajni as scientist and the usual Rajni playing a rootable villian were slight subversions too which worked. With masalas it is always about the different means, not the ends, right?
I thought Endhiran had enough going for it that was different.
If anything Ra One should feel redundant after Krish, Robot, save for the fact that SRK did it and not Salman “dabangg” Khan or Sunil Shetty or any of those guys
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Abhay Joshi
October 28, 2011
Light years away from this topic, seen Videokaaran ?You must!
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shivu
October 29, 2011
I saw Ra-one in 3d version, i really enjoyed……….. dont overlook too much on con’s…. just enjoy the movie……..
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Raj Balakrishnan
October 29, 2011
Nice movie, liked the central message that good will always win over evil. Good to see a responsible film, unlike Mankatha where the bad guy walks away with the loot. Shahrukh khan’s tamil was not bad at all.
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roopa
October 29, 2011
OMG!!! What a lousy script.. When i watched Rajini’s ‘Robot’, i thought it could have been much better. But after seeing “Ra-one”, i truly appreciate the former movie. Barring a few scenes, there was some logic in ‘Robo’ whereas ‘Ra-one’ takes the audience for granted with its dowdy script. ‘Ra-one’ certainly is a big disappointment..
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Govardhan Giridass
October 29, 2011
Aisha darling,
This is a forum for literate people. Go take your SRK fandom someplace else – there are enough forums out there.
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raav
October 30, 2011
@Raj let a movie be jst a movie – entertaining, keeps you involved and above all it should not make you feel dumb after watching it… Btw, would like to hear what are the things you have started following after watching any “responsible movie”? till date? & for god’s sake don’t pull Mankatha here, it is one of the well thought multi-layerd script (hope you understand what it means) of the recent times. Don’t be surprised to see if Mankatha appears in Bollywood…
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raav
October 30, 2011
“oh you STILL watch films based on director’s talents?”
I always do.. now waiting fr Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar!!
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raav
October 30, 2011
Probably Mai Hoon Na!!
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zaazooz
October 30, 2011
What r u saying in this?
Look what have you become Baradwaj Rangan
A curd rice critic in true” The HIndu “tradtition
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Ramsu
October 30, 2011
For a film targeted at children, the film has an inexplicable preponderance of off-colour humour. If you want to make a movie targeted at 8-year olds, surely the scene with SRK putting his hand on an unwelcome part of Kareena’s anatomy, or the subject of her research, or the bits about condoms and power yoga could’ve been done away with, don’t you think?
Making a children’s film that adults will enjoy as well is an admirable goal. But my guess is that not too many adults will enjoy this either.
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Rahul
October 30, 2011
Wher is da game
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sam
October 30, 2011
I know it’s not your job to do this,but i was just wondering that u must have met a lot of tamil film makers as part of your job.Now please u needn’t worry,i wont ask for their addresses or anything like that.What i would like to know whether u have come across any talented assistant directors,who is waiting for the right opportunity to take the plunge.You see, i have a good story that i would like to narrate to this person.The story is about football,politics & relationships(e.g.can u guess the link between Pele,Lionel Messi & the Indian communists).I will really appreciate it ,if u help me find the person i am looking for.Waiting for your reply,Sameer(antves20@yahoo.com)
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MumbaiRamki
October 30, 2011
zaazooz : Not true , but i just laughed at this ! Somehow my subconscious made some neural connections and figured that you are referring to malathi rangarajan here .. Trouble for you BR !
PS : BR , did you listen to chillax from velayudham ? One more raaga based song like karikalan from vettaikran?
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Raj Balakrishnan
October 30, 2011
@raav,
A movie should be entertaining, yes, but should not be irresponsible, especially Indian movies. Indian audience, tamil audience in particluar, get easily influenced by the movies. Notice how many scumbags and low-lifes chase high class girls, influenced by their heroes.
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Anu Warrier
October 30, 2011
Rangan, like one of the posters up there, I too was going to give this fim a safe miss. And I do like Shahrukh Khan – well, at least his pre-Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna period. Now, you have made me want to go and see the movie, if only to see for myself (which is always a good thing), instead of depending solely on the critics most of whom write tosh anyway. And if I am contradicting myself here, it’s because *every* one of them trashed it.
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rameshram
October 30, 2011
liked the facebook status “review” of ra-one.
“avoid like plague”.
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brangan
October 31, 2011
Ramsu: I was talking about this with someone and they said it’s very different these days, because their kids are not even ten and they know about gayness and condoms and sex (even if not exactly the accurate information, they are exposed to these things). The Internet has changed what we think children know. I am not saying Ra.One should or should not have had those jokes. I’m just saying that what we think is “suitable” for children may simply be a remnant of our own growing-up days.
sam: Email me and I’ll put you in touch with some people I know.
MumbaiRamki: Not listened yet. But want to see the film, which seems to be the only decent entertainer this Diwali.
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joe tempo
October 31, 2011
some fundamental mistakes.. http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/ra-one/5874
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Utkal Mohanty
October 31, 2011
“I am not saying Ra.One should or should not have had those jokes.” Why aren’t you?
Like so many things in the film it showed how little thinking went into the writing of the film. KIds may or may not know about condoms and gay relationship. But what kind of dumb writer will put those kind of jokes in a film like this? Does it create the wanted texture fora film like this? The animation films of Hollywood today are written to appeal to kids as well as adults. But that’s not done by gong all sexual. Asa I said it reveals pathetic lack of talent in the writing department of the film.
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apala
October 31, 2011
BR,
>> “But want to see the film, which seems to be the only decent entertainer this Diwali”
Velayudham is a terribly boring, predictable, stupid movie that Vijay had done for 50-th time! It’s a re-hash of his own old movies (thirupachchi, remember?!!) and anniyan and the likes ——-made so badly that you would be puking all the time from 1/3 of the movie till the end. There are couple of good, funny scenes (especially the one on the train with his sister and gang) and few one lines from Santhanam………but beyond that it’s completely irritating to put it mildly……………
don’t say you have not been warned……………….
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Utkal Mohanty
November 1, 2011
“It feels sad to have to say this to people who are presumable a. professional writers and b. literate adults, but the fictional world you create must have rules, and these rules must be consistent.
In a superhero/scifi/fantasy story, you can stretch the laws of physics, but that’s really all you can do. After that, you have to work hard, even harder than in a ‘real-world’ movie, to ensure that the rest of the world you create is logical, that everything else makes sense.
You can’t just do whatever the hell you want with the plot, the characters, and the world your story is set in just because your heroes are more than human. If you have no internal logic system, you lose any member of the audience who is not a zombie.”.. Samit Basu
Thankfully, makers of films like Ghajini. Krissh and Endhiran kept this in mind . They respected their audience and took themselves seriously and the audience gave that respect back. ..unlike the makers of Ra One who made a Tamilan recite Vatapi Ganapthi after returning from work, showed the son scattering some ash of his dead father after the father was shown in a coffin, and made the widower of the same dead father dance Chhamk Challo in a cleavage-revealing red blouse at the son’s birthday party. Sure don’t take yourself seriously and don’t bother about such silly things like details. You will find a few ‘ zombies’ who will buy tickets for the film and not find anything amiss.
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Mambazha Manidhan
November 1, 2011
I enjoyed this movie. People (not just here) who are complaining about *this* are just being pretentious. By no means is Ra.One a Leave-Your-Brains-At-Home blockbuster. And, it is funny to see everyone compare it to Robot. Like that is supposed to be the benchmark !
Maybe, I got sucked into the movie because it was in 3D. Maybe, it is because of the direct Point A-to-Point B storytelling that the film employs. Mostly, I think it is because it achieves what it set out to do unlike say, 7am Arivu.
7am arivu keeps guessing till the end whether the audience would like Black Coffee and ends up serving a lukewarm Latte made with diluted milk. No one likes Milk diluted with water. Even the ones that hate Black Coffee.
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brangan
November 1, 2011
Mambazha Manidhan: You’re absolutely right about Point A-to-Point B storytelling. Like I was telling someone yesterday, the problem with Ra.One isn’t that it’s a *bad* screenplay, because the progression (the peaks/valleys) is quite clean. The problem is that it’s a very generic screenplay, which I guess becomes a problem when you think this film is going to make the sun rise in the west. I had no such expectations. It’s a bit like going to Singam or Silambattam and saying, “Oh crap, it’s just the same old thing.” Uh, and you were expecting? 🙂
Like you said, I was far more disappointed with 7aum Arivu because that promises to be more than just an action movie, a movie of deep ideas and such. Super-aa coffee-milk metaphor-laam kudukkareenga! 🙂 Will put up some thoughts soon.
Yes baby, the bullet-point report is back 🙂
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Dom Sheldon
November 1, 2011
Rangan,
The great thing about film criticism as opposed to a review is that something interesting can be gleaned from the worst of movies, as your piece evidences. RaOne is just a bad videogame!
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Tyler Durden
November 1, 2011
i donno if it was just me but the Rajni sir in the cameo for some reason didn’t look like rajni sir at all! even when he takes off his glasses,there’s at best a split second shot of his eyes but not good enough to judge if he was real.there were reports that rajni was ill prior to filming his bit,maybe they never managed to get a good enough shot.Guys,we have been conned,unless proven otherwise.thoughts?
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brangan
November 1, 2011
Tyler Durden: Someone told me that it was just CGI – but I’m not sure. But he did look weak, sagging jowls and all..,
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brangan
November 2, 2011
I’m glad that writing about movies has progressed to this lofty level. I shudder to think what the nation’s papers are going to be like on that day 🙂
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Utkal Mohanty
November 2, 2011
Endhiran and Ra One, the two films need to be compared because they are operating in similar scale , using similar resources and having similar aspirations. So when you put the two side by side you can see Ra One falls far short on most counts in comparison to Endhiran. Ina manner of speaking , there really is no comparison. Endhiran is a decent enough film, whee Ra One is a travesty.
The major differentiators are of course Shankar, Sujata and Rajini as compared to Anubhav, Mustaq Sheik and Shahrukh. Now Shankar , I think, is majorly under-rated director. Technically he has been far ahead of any Bollywood director right from that Chika Buka Raila song in Gentleman through the disappearing head song in Kadhalan to finally the wondrous climax in Endhiran. He is also a fine thinker and the core political / philosophical ideas in films like Gentleman, Indian, Mudhalvan, Anniyan and Endhiran are smart and have depth. I don’t think apart from Raju Hirani no one in Bollywood has shown anywhere near an understanding of social and human issues or engaged with them at the same level as Shankar.
Sujata , of course, has been a fine writer all along. But in Endhiran he has surpassed himself in managing to create an elegant parable that works at so many levels. It is a serious enough meditation on love, being human, scientific ambition , and the like.
Even on the acting front Rajini is miles ahead of Sharukh. Sahrukh is aprody ofa nedy, south Indian computer programmer and bloodless plastic toy G-One. Contrary to what many Rajini fans believe Endhiran works because both the director and the actor have eschewed Rajinism to attempt a more sincere storytelling. What we get to see is therefore not a Rajini-star vehicle but a good film. So there is no entry song, no cigarette throwing in air, no bashing up 20 guys at a time. Thank god for that. Rajini is dignified and human as the scientist Dr Vasigaran, he is charming and lovable as Chiitty and vicious and entertaining as the evil avatar of Chity ( He was a riot when he says ” Baa; as he discovers the real Vasigaran among the fakes.) Much as I enjoy Rajini’s antics in films like Padiappa and Chnadramukhi, ( not so much in Shivaji, not at all in fact), I will take a genuinely good film over them any day. While in films like Padiappa and Chndramukhi I fidget in my sat, waiting for the explosive Rajini elements appear, Endhiran is something I enjoyed from start to end. ( In fact I saw it in the theater twice. In comparison, though I saw Ra One in a theater , in 3_D, There were at least three stretches when I wanted to actullay walk out.)
The fact is , even when it comes to special effects, Ra One is far ahead of any Bollywood film so far but is still nowhere as good as they are in Endhiran. Just compare the last fight. What do we get to see in Ra One, some ten Arjun Rampls side by side. Just place that by the side of the absolutely mind blowing plethora of formations, all iamginatively conjured. In my opinion, Shankar overdid things here a little, but as far as effects go, they were wow! Compare another shot that appears in both the films. The scene where all the knives and other weapons from goondas are divested and they form a scary goddess in Endhiran. So imaginative, so well-executed! What happens in Ra One? The weapons just go stick to the side of car! Blah! .In fact most of the good-looking VFX in RA One is of just generic video game variety. Nothing imaginative, nothing g unique.
The other area, the most vital for any mainstream commercial Indian film, songs, is again where Endhiran is miles ahead. What are Chhamak Chhalo or Criminal ? Just a couple of cleavage revealing, butt-shaking item numbers. What do they add to the texture of the film? Look at Boom Boom Robot Da. How well it is integrated in to the film. The romance in Ra One is so plastic, the song Dildaara shot so perfunctorily, it generates no warmth. The opening song with Rajini and Ash, and the song in Macchu Picchu are spectacular and lush.
I started out by saying the two films need to be compared. But frankly, there is no comparison. Ra One is such an inferior product on every front, it should be really compared to equally brainless efforts like Trimurrti, and then perhaps, it will come up as tad better , thanks to its VFX and novelty.
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Shyam
November 2, 2011
Try Infamous (1/2) (the game), parts of the powers and character seems to be from that game.
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2nI3e7u8yU&feature=related
Also, in that game the character becomes red when he does ‘evil’ things and lightning blue on ‘good’ deeds… Nice game actually.
Similarly off topic, Vijai’s Velayudham character seems to borrow heavily from Assassins Creed (the game), even some of the action scenes filming angles,
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDoVmZqNYPY&feature=related
A simply superb game, in case you were asking 😉
Hmmm… makes one wonder what these folks (movie makers) are upto
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Shyam
November 2, 2011
Hmmm… googled this after posting, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES3hTksK998 (Ra.one to Infamous comparison, makes my point easier)
http://moviegalleri.net/2010/07/assassins-creed-vijay-velayutham-movie-posters.html (For the velayutham bit…)
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Mambazha Manidhan
November 2, 2011
LOL @ the Aishwarya Rai link. Even better was one of the comments, “Ash could hv given birth to 7 billion’th baby… very lazy.”
Looks like on the D-day, it’s gonna be a Live Telecast wonly. We will have to wait & see if Rajinikanth will do another guest appearance as Chitti the Robot performing the C-section. 😀
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Gane
November 2, 2011
This… is where Bollywood is right now? For a movie that is meant to showcase films in our country, it is seemingly fair to expect something more than the generic entertainer. And I find it hard to drag myself into a theater with low expectations. Its not that I expected Ra.one to blow me away, but then, it was so mediocre.
Just curious, do you ever walk into a theater with set expectations? Or do you assess the film’s limits, what it could/should try to be, based on how it plays?
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vijay
November 2, 2011
“, I was far more disappointed with 7aum Arivu because that promises to be more than just an action movie, a movie of deep ideas and such.”
You had that expectation even after watching that simpleton Murugadoss mess up Ghajini so badly? when was the last time a mainstream masala Tamil film not only promised deep ideas but actually delivered(for you) on it ?Even Kamal messed up Dasavathaaram.
Also I am not sure why you would have no expectations for Ra One considering all the hype and the fact that SRK was trying to outdo the likes of Robot and such
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apala
November 3, 2011
@ Utkal Mohanty,
I completely agree with you 100% that “Ra One is a travesty”…………..but the rest of things you said about Shankar and Endhiran is nowhere close to being true……….I am sorry, neenga Shankar-i vechchu comedy keemedy paNNalaiyE?! 🙂
Shankar is an over-rated director (a polished version of T.R. as a director) who has no clue or understanding of social and human issues or engaged with them at the any level…………very superficial in approching the issues or addressing them…………..
Endhiran is a better movie than Ra One, agreed. Let’s leave it there 🙂
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brangan
November 4, 2011
vijay: Okay, delivering on deep ideas (rather, a high concept, which is a far more appropriate word) is rare. But I thought Ghajini did it to a reasonable extent. It was at least engaging on a surface level, and it married its high concept to masala tropes okayishly.
Regarding your Ra.One statement, expectation and hype are two different things. SRK can hype the film all he wants by my expectations come from different quarters: (1) the filmmaker, who hasn’t done anything great so far, and (2) the genre itself, which is rarely handled well in india. So I really didn’t expect much walking in, and I got what I thought I’d pretty much get.
Don’t you “expect” some things from some people, in terms of what lies in store? like next week’s Rockstar – for instance — is by Imtiaz Ali. Based on his earlier films, I expect (1) good character and relationship detailing, (2) indifferently picturised songs, and so forth. The marketing hype is completely different and it has nothing to do with what I think I’m going to get from a film.
But if those expectations aren’t met (either positively or negatively), then a good film-viewer should be able to adapt — instead of letting the film be coloured by the non-fulfillment of these expectations (i.e. you say, “I expected this, but I;m getting this instead, so let me take that hat off and put this one on and view the film this way instead).
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abhilash khuntia
November 4, 2011
nice
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vijay
November 7, 2011
“Regarding your Ra.One statement, expectation and hype are two different things. SRK can hype the film all he wants by my expectations come from different quarters: (1) the filmmaker, who hasn’t done anything great so far, and (2) the genre itself, which is rarely handled well in india. So I really didn’t expect much walking in, and I got what I thought I’d pretty much get.”
well it should have been the same way for Endhiran as well, right? I am sure neither Rajni nor Shankar rank high in your list. But yet your endhiran report was full of whys and what-ifs. why couldnt you just sit back and enjoy the movie ? 🙂
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brangan
November 7, 2011
vijay: What makes you say that? I think Indian and Mudhalvan are two damn good masala films — nothing that Anubhav Sinha has done is even a patch on those two films, especially Mudhalvan. Are you really implying that I’d walk into an Anubhav Sinha movie and a Shankar movie with the same expectations? 🙂
Yes, Shankar after that kinda got repetitive but there are still expectations. And he did deliver to an extent in Endhiran — which, again, I didn’t find bad or anything, just meh for the most part. Maybe half-hour of a good masala film with a lot of random padding.
As far as I remember, I don’t remember writing a review or report with “whys” and “what-ifs” on Endhiran. I just talked about it in the comments section of some post.
But even if I HAD written a review, it wouldn’t have been along these lines — because for all its problems, Endhiran isn’t a “silly” film at all, like this one. That’s why — as I said somewhere else — it’s easier to compare this to something witless like Singam or Silambattam. Endhiran is a far more ambitious film, with far more investment in myth.
Just because one has Rajini as a futuristic creature and one has SRK as a futuristic creature, it doesn’t mean the two movies are similar. They’re very different, right from the tone/register of masala they adopt. This one — at least to my eyes — was doing little more than mimicking one of the lesser masala movies of Hindi cinema clothed in a sci-fi garb. The silliness percolates right through to the hero homage. Here, the homage to SRK is silly, playfu, with no weight whatsoever. In Endhiran, the homage to Rajini is grand and mythical. Chalk and cheese.
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vikram
November 8, 2011
Hi BR, what got to me abt Ra.one after a point was the manner in which they overdid the ‘tell’ at the cost of ‘show’…so much of talk explaining stuff over and over again…..
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KayKay
January 3, 2012
A late (and by now stale) post. Just caught this 2 days ago after it released on DVD.
Movie was ultimately a victim of poor marketing. An analogy can be made with the Wachowski Brothers’ Speed Racer, which bombed spectacularly. Audience heard the name Wachowski and were primed for another Matrix. Instead they got a decent homage to an old kiddie show.
Which is kinda what happened here. You were primed for, at best, a more polished sci-fi take on Robot, or at worst, an imitation of it, but instead got a video-game kiddie fantasy.
Decent graphics, a well staged action scene or two, on the whole, not the worst thing you could subject yourself to on a lazy Sunday vegetating on the couch.
But the South Indian caricaturing left a sour taste, kinda like curd on noodles. Oh wait…..
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havishman
April 17, 2012
i love it
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Arun
June 14, 2014
baradwaj – ra one and remarkable achievement dont go together. nice mincing of words. the movie is repugnant and the delivery of the cast more so and its lead exceptionally so.
sorry to pick on you after all these years – but truth needs to be told.
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Arun
June 14, 2014
Ok, let me be honest. I was looking to unwind after a pathetic day at work, with some movie “research” – and one thing let to another and, there – your post came on top of my “ra one vs endhiran” search.
I was all pumped up – it was payback time for my bad day! and then duh! this slushier than slime review…
I wanted to be liberated after reading the exact words “DONT GET TOO CLOSE THAN 100 YARDS TO THE TV PLAYING THIS MORONICALLY STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID MOVIE ON TOP OF BEING UNORIGINAL — it may irreparably hurt your senses.” But what i get is how the movie was “remarkable”!
Now, ok I feel somewhat better. Thanks.
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