Ra One loses, G One wins: My Review of Shahrukh Khan playing Superhero in Bollywood movie!

SRK as G One: Indian movie Superhero

I have just watched Shahrukh Khan’s ambitious movie Ra One. I am not going to say that either it’s a great movie or a bad one. But yes it’s entertaining.

I do regret reading so many reviews before watching the film. I should have gone straight walked to the cinema hall rather than getting influenced by others’ opinionated views that do affect us. As I'd got influenced, I don’t want to do the same.

For the critic in me, it could be a ‘long video game’ or a ‘Bollywood-Hollywood synthesis with a touch of Rajinikanth style stunts, new age techniques and the Indian kitsch’.

For the child in me, it was engaging, interesting—at times scary [yes there is very much a child in me, the one who has read Phantom and Mandrake in Hindi-English Indrajal comics, as much as Tilism Hoshruba in Urdu], and riveting for the last half-an-hour.

For the youngster in me, it was a movie that offered a new story, perhaps the tale not woven well, no great music and lacking the finesse of real great movies. But despite the flaws, it does seem to work by the time it ends. At times, you get a feeling that everything was too surreal and you think that it was a tad too predictable.

The real action is in the last 30 minutes or so. Yes, the train scene is clear imitation of Rajinikant’s Endhiran [Robot] and for that lift-up there is a tribute [it was much needed] to ‘Rajini Sir’ from Shahrukh in the midst of the movie.

Amazing Animation: G One stops the train that has ran into Mumbai VT!

Now, an admission, I have never been a die-hard Shahrukh Khan fan. I belong to the generation that grew up on Amitabh Bachchan.

But lately I have realized that the country is divided in people who either love him or simply hate him.

I belong to neither of the sides. Many friends say that they just don’t like him, his facial expressions irritate them or that his acting puts off.

I think SRK cleverly saw the void--the need for an Indian movie superhero, and being aware that children like him more, he took the plunge. He got the role tailor made for him, putting all the ingredients of a masala movie, and then launched the publicity blitz.

Some other hero may not have carried this kind of sci fiction sort of computer game movie. It needed SRK, who has been with us for the last 20 years and has come to symbolize popular culture, to lift it. To his credit, he manages to pull it off.

Though we have had TV serials like Ramayana and Mahabharat where divine & mythical  characters were seen burning the devil with deadly rays and fighting while flying in air or even the genie tales, but trying it in a mainstream movie in India was always risky.

 Chammak Challo enlivens movie. All other songs are forgettable in Ra One

That probably seemed easier with characters like Flash Gordon or Fauladi Singh in the comics or animation heroes in 'He Man’ series or the ‘Superman-Batman’ movies.

So you can give credit to SRK for his attempt in making the movie and trying to play a superhero.

The story goes like this: The kid wanted his father to make a computer game where the villain is more powerful than the hero. The father obliges but the villain Ra One comes out of the game to kill the father [the programmer--Shahrukh Khan] and then hunts for the player [Lucifer].

Aah, I am again reminded of my childhood. Do you remember the Mandrake series where his half-brother, the often faceless, Lucifer [Cobra or Vishdhar], comes back to settle old scores. Remember the hood without face in some comics!

Did the script writer had memories of that popular comic series in his mind and took the name from there? The two sides of the same coin: one good, the other evil. Sorry I again drifted from the subject and went back from movies to the world of comics.

I have always been bad at video games. Always found tough to graduate to the next level. So the last 20-odd minutes, provided some thrill when G One has to reach a particular level and then overcome his capabilities to fight with Ra One, the powerful monster, and defeat him.

In between there are a few comical scenes, the presence of Satish Shah, SRKs accent as a Tamilian, the animation scenes, the sole popular song Chhammak Chhallo where Kareena might allure you with her curves and cleavage, until the racy end. SRK's piercings and the airport scene maylook gross but it could be appealing to his gay fans.

G One gets ready for the final battle with Ra One

In the meanwhile, there is some melodrama and tragedy, ‘Funny scenes’, which are perhaps not as funny.

The 'crotch scenes' every now and then, that appeared repetitive. Also there was a widowed Kareena Kapoor’s ‘Karva Chauth’ episode with SRK’s robotic lookalike from the game.

Finally G One wins. SRK was long dead but the animated SRK, G One, dies fighting and then resurfaces at the end, a la Hollywood movie style so that there could be a possibility of the sequel in future.

So go and watch the movie with an open mind. There is chance you may genuine like it or might return dazed, feeling as if you are just back from the virtual world. But don’t go by self-appointed critics’ opinionated reviews [what about this one?].

Rediff.com had nearly half-a-dozen articles and pieces on Ra One in the first two days itself. Strangely, contrary to their style [they carry two reviews--one positive and a harsh reviews], almost all of them trashed the movie and even termed it a flop on the first day.

I think I would have enjoyed a bit more had I not read some much about the film. The hype perhaps led to this and it’s a double-edged sword anyway as expectations were raised too much. What do you expect of a movie, after all?

A Crumbling Mumbai Railway Station: That's the Best Scene in the Film

I don’t think every flick can be a masterpiece that could be rated high on all parameters.

There was visual delight, the ultimate being the crumbling scene of Mumbai CST [earlier VT], a hallmark of computer generated animation.

Box office reports suggest the movie is earning enough of crores to keep him in race for Bollywood’s top slot.

Do we, the cine-watchers, need to think in terms of hit or flop, when the film has just been released! I think I am not disappointed after watching the movie. It was different and it did entertain me. In the end, it was victory to good guy, which most of us like.

Isn’t that enough! What’s your verdict?

Rajanikanth's Robot rocks: Movie mania sweeps across India [Endhiran Film review]

Rajnikanth’s latest flick, Robot, is truly a mind-boggling movie that has been made on a scale hitherto unseen in Indian movies. It entertains the audience with such special effects and stunts that surpass even some of the Hollywood movies.

Just a few initial scenes were enough to convince the guy sitting next to me that Salman Khan, whose Dabangg was released recently, now appeared nothing but a toddler after seeing the incredible action scenes in Robot [Hindi version, while it is released as Endhiran in Tamil].

Rajni’s persona and the way he carries himself as a scientist in love with Aishwarya and also the friendly robot built by him in the first half of the movie apart from the evil Chitti [robot’s name] in the second half, is laudable.

Enough has been written about the story. The fact is that Shankar has done a marvellous job. The stunts and fight scenes inside the train, atop it and the animations through out the movie are simply spectacular. The story is also original and not a lift or Hollywood adaptation.

A friend’s jaw remained dropped for most part of the film. While cine-goers in South are familiar with superhuman stunts, it might dazzle the North Indian audience at some point. However the way script moves ahead and it’s ‘Rajini the Robot’ who performs the action scenes and not the scientist, which make them somewhat credible.

It’s difficult to believe that a 61-year-old actor is in the midst of this breathtaking action. While Rahman’s music and the songs didn’t leave much of an impression, Rajinikant [as spelt in Tamil] with his tremendous screen presence and star value pulled the film all alone.

In process, he has also given a fresh lease of life to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s career that was in doldrums. It is undoubtedly Indian cinema’s major leap in terms of stunts as also animation.

There are interesting scenes, fun and also emotion. Dr Vasikaran, the scientist creates the robot, Chitti, which later gets emotions and falls in love with his own maker’s ladylove. A tale of rebellion with science fiction and fantasy unfolds thereafter. Even the robo’s end is no less dramatic.

Perhaps the climax is a bit outlandish though it has also been praised lavishly by some critics. It’s a rather longish movie, almost three hours. Most of the audience seemed either transfixed or at least impressed but there was a guy who complained of slight headache in the end.

Though there is a difference in taste of movie-goers in North and South considering which certain comedy scenes were cut for North Indian version, the film is all set to succeed across the country.

I loved it. It is advisable to watch Robot in the cinema hall. I am sure Bollywood directors and actors would shed the belief that theirs is the cinema which represents India.

What I like about the actor is that he is quite down to earth in real life. He behaves like an ordinary man and wears no makeup or wig to appear in public, unlike the rest of our super stars. But when he is on celluloid, he rules the screen like none else and fans get hysteric.

The Maharashtra-born Shivaji Rao Gaekwad alias Rajanikanth acted in his first movie in 1975, almost the same era when Amitabh Bachchan arrived on the scene. Thirty five years after, Rajani still rules and plays the hero while all of his contemporaries have other retired or been cast in side roles.

For years we have tried to unravel the mystery named Rajanikant. He is a cult in Southern India and Rajini mania is nothing short of religion. He had charged a whopping Rs 260 million [26 crore] for his last movie, Sivaji, the highest rate in Asia, and his films are hit in Japan and Malaysia.

For Robot he is reportedly getting aorund Rs 45 crore, which is three to four times what Shahrukh Khan or Amir Khan charge. Isn't this amazing, especially when in North India we remember him more for Andha Qanoon, Hum and Chalbaaz and consider him a regional star?

Perhaps after watching this movie, this phenomenon could be demystified in North India also. Despite being a super fantasy, Robot—the costliest film ever made in India, succeeds in holding you hooked till the end. My verdict is out. Superstar Rajni rocks.

Salman Khan's Dabangg denotes Bollywood's return to roots [Movie Review]

Salman Khan has turned the tables once again. His latest movie, Dabangg, is all set to be one of the biggest ever hits in Bollywood history. Not just Salman fans but even film-buffs who never had a special liking for the macho star, seem enchanted by the film.

Dabangg is quitessential Bollywood masala movie packed with action, emotion and some romance. So what sets it apart from other films? For me, the foremost positive point of the movie is that the poor man is again back in the big-budget movies.

Who would have imagined that a woman selling earthen pots could be the heroine in a movie anymore? Sonakshi Sinha who plays the female lead role opposite Salman Khan, sells 'surahis' and her father is an alcoholic who is to be dragged back home often from the street or railway track.

It's not Circa 1975 and it's several generations since Sholay, still, it works. Fed up with NRI or homegrown millionaires of the likes of the 'sophisticated' Raj Malhotras whose filthy rich ladylove would only travel in swanky cars, it's a surprising and welcome relief.

Even the role of Chulbul 'Robinhood' Pandey, played by Salman, is that of a middle-level cop who barely understands English and lives in a humble house, later getting a quarter allotted in the police line. Bollywood is back not just in UP but also its main characters are from poor background or representing lower-class stratum of the society. [Earlier this year the low-budget movie Ishqiya, that had got commercial success, was also set in Uttar Pradesh]

Further, the story is based not in a metropolitan city rather in a small town. Pandey is shown working for Lalganj police station and it appears to be a small town in the midst of rural Indian heartland. Pandey has a strained relationship with his stepfather and stepbrother.

He becomes a policeman, a crook cop, who can eliminate anyone by staging a fake encounter, and has no qualms in taking bribe, of course, from big criminals. After all, he has to survive in the system where corrupt politicians have nexus with the outlaws. Still, this 'crazy' supercop has certain principles and he will go to any lenghts to ensure that the poor gets justice.

For the last year or so, Indian audience was waxing eloquent about evolving Bollywood movies that may not necessarily have the song-and-dance scenes. 'Intelligent cinema' was the buzzword. But here is another movie that doesn't require audience to think much.

The film has incredible stunts, the item song 'Munni badnaam hui' and some crude jokes have been thrown in to keep us hooked for almost two hours. However, despite being a 'formula film', it somehow gels this time. After the debacle of the much-hyped Veer, Salman badly needed a hit and Dabangg appears to be a mega blockbuster.

While Amir Khan may be the cerebal actor and Shahrukh Khan seen as the star catering to the classes, it is the 'bad boy' Salman--who seems to connect with the masses. Either it's multiplex or theaters in small towns, the movie is getting packed houses everywhere and it's a testimony to his charisma.

In his mid-40s the third of the Khan troika doesn't seem tired or aging as yet. The stunts may be a bit unreal, with bombs exploding and jeeps being blown off and going up in air and falling after somersaults, but the hero survives it all. [Dabang is a word used in North and Central India. The meaning, as per Comprehensive Urdu-English dictionary is 'bully'. Origin: dabaana, dabang=one who can put others down, also used for someone who is courageous, the movie-makers say that dabang means fearless]

The dialogues, particularly, the punchlines for Salman and his swagger, are a hit with his fans. After this movie, we will see lot of youths tucking their sunglasses behind their collar, just like the cop Chulbul Pandey does it. With record earning of around Rs 50 crore [500 million] in the opening weekend at the box office, once again Sallu has proved his critics wrong.

Perhaps, along side Peeple Live, movie-goers also need movies like Dabangg that are just meant to entertain. Movies where the hero plays the superman and gets cheered by the crowd until it's happy ending. Dabangg is certainly one such movie and it is not at all necessary to judge all movies as per the Western definition of cinema.

We enjoy it, we give a thumbs up. That's all.