Ra.One

Not to be confused with Raavan.

Ra.One
File:RaOneposter3.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Anubhav Sinha
Written by	Anubhav Sinha Kanika Dhillon
Screenplay by	Anubhav Sinha Kanika Dhillon Mushtaq Sheikh David Benullo
Story by	Anubhav Sinha
Produced by	Gauri Khan
Starring	Shahrukh Khan Kareena Kapoor Arjun Rampal Armaan Verma Shahana Goswami Tom Wu
Cinematography	Nicola Pecorini V. Manikandan
Edited by	Sanjay Sharma Martin Walsh
Music by	Vishal-Shekhar
Distributed by	Eros International Ltd. Red Chillies Entertainment
Release dates	October 24, 2011 (2011-10-24) (Dubai) October 25, 2011 (2011-10-25) (London) October 26, 2011 (2011-10-26) (Toronto and worldwide)
Running time	154 minutes
Country	Template:Film India
Language	Template:Film Hindi
Budget	₹125 crore (US$15 million)

Ra.One is a 2011 Indian science fiction superhero film directed by Anubhav Sinha and written by Sinha and Kanika Dhillon. The film stars Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Armaan Verma in the lead roles, and Arjun Rampal as the titular antagonist. The film follows Shekhar Subramanium (Khan), a game designer in London living with his wife (Kapoor) and son (Verma). He designs a motion sensor-based game in which the villain is more powerful than the hero. The villain escapes from the game into the real world, and begins to track down Lucifer (the gaming ID of Verma), the only player to have defeated him. The film also features Shahana Goswami, Dalip Tahil and Tom Wu in supporting roles. Rajinikanth, Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra appear in cameo roles.

Ra.One was co-produced by Eros International and Red Chillies Entertainment, and was expected to release on June 3, 2011. However, the release was delayed to the Diwali weekend of October 26, 2011 due to extensive post-production work. Development of the project commenced in 2004. Pre-production began in 2007, and principal photography began on March 2009. In July 2011, it was announced that the film would be converted to 3D. Red Chillies VFX incorporated the visual effects under the supervision of Hollywood effects technician Jeffrey Kleiser. Ra.One cost an estimated ₹125 crore (US$15 million), making it Bollywood's most expensive film at that time, and India's second-most expensive film after Enthiran (2010). A record amount of ₹52 crore (US$6.2 million) was spent on marketing, which included a nine-month publicity campaign, brand tie-ups, merchandise, theme-based video games and viral marketing. However, several problems including censorship, soundtrack leaks and copyright issues caused concerns that the film would not be ready for release.

Ra.One premiered in Dubai, London and Toronto between October 24 and 26, 2011. The film was released in 2D and 3D in 3,100 screens in India and in 904 prints overseas, making it the largest Indian cinematic release worldwide. It was also dubbed into Tamil and Telugu. Upon release, critical reception was mixed in India but was generally positive overseas. Ra.One received widespread praise for its visual effects and action, though it received criticism for its script and direction. Upon release, the film broke several box-office records. Box Office India declared the film a hit in India one week after its release; in its second week, it was declared a "super hit" overseas. However, trade analysts termed the box office performance "average". Subsequently, the film became one of the highest-grossing films of 2011, both in India and worldwide. The technical aspects of Ra.One, especially regarding the visual effects, received universal acclaim from industry experts and critics; subsequently, Ra.One won a number of awards at award ceremonies for Best Special Effects, notably one National Film Award and one Filmfare Award. However, the film itself received dishonorable awards, including two Golden Kela Awards and one Ghanta Award.

Plot

Jenny Nayar (Shahana Goswami), an employee of UK-based company Barron Industries, introduces a new technology that allows objects from the digital world to enter the real world using the wireless transmissions from multiple devices. Shekhar Subramanium (Shahrukh Khan), who also works for the company, is given a final chance to devise with a video game with a difference. In order to impress his skeptical son Prateek (Armaan Verma), and upon the request of his wife Sonia (Kareena Kapoor), Subramanium uses his son's idea that the villain be more powerful than the hero.

Shekhar's colleague Akashi (Tom Wu) provides the moves of the game's characters, Jenny does the programming and Shekhar gives his face to the game's protagonist G.One, whilst the antagonist Ra.One is faceless and has substantially greater powers than those granted to G.One. The game has three levels, and either of the players can only be killed in the third level using a special gun that holds a single bullet. While designing the game, Akashi notices some malfunctions but ignores them. When the game is finally launched, it receives a standing ovation and Prateek loves it so much that he insists on playing it instantly. He logs in under the alias 'Lucifer' and proceeds to the second level, but is interrupted by Akashi. Ra.One, being unable to end his turn with Lucifer, becomes determined that Lucifer shall die.

When the mainframe fails to shut down, Akashi calls Shekhar, who notices a problem with the game. Ra.One uses the new technology to enter the real world, murders Akashi and goes to find Lucifer. Shekhar rushes home but is blocked by Ra.One on the way. In an attempt to save his son, Shekhar claims that he is Lucifer. However, Ra.One scans Shekhar's I.D. and kills him for lying. Prateek notices the strange circumstances of his father's death and realises that Ra.One has come to life. He and Jenny attempt to bring G.One to life. Meanwhile, Sonia tells Prateek that the family will return to India. Having taken the form of Akashi, Ra.One chases them, but G.One enters the real world through Jenny's computer and causes a gas explosion which saves them and destroys Ra.One. G.One takes Ra.One's H.A.R.T., without which Ra.One is not powerful. Sonia finds she cannot leave G.One and takes him along with them to India through Shekhar's passport. G.One promises Sonia that he will protect Prateek from any harm. Ra.One returns to life, takes the form of a billboard model (Arjun Rampal), and goes after G.One and Prateek.

During Prateek's birthday party, Ra.One hypnotises Sonia, assumes her form and kidnaps Prateek. Ra.One then instructs G.One to give him his H.A.R.T. back, and sends the real Sonia in an uncontrollable Mumbai Suburban Railway train. G.One saves Sonia just in the nick of time (though the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus is destroyed) and returns to save Prateek. The game resumes, with Prateek controlling G.One's moves. Following a lengthy fight, both of the characters reach the third level. With little power left, G.One and Prateek trick Ra.One into shooting G.One without his H.A.R.T. attached, which leaves Ra.One helpless. Furious, Ra.One creates ten copies of himself. Prateek, unable to differentiate the real Ra.One, asks G.One to quote one of Shekhar's sayings: "बुराई संग जो मेल रचाया, फिर कभी न छूटे उसका साया" ("If you join the forces of evil, its shadows shall always follow you"). The pair then realise that only one of the ten Ra.Ones has a shadow: the original one. G.One shoots and destroys him, and after absorbing Ra.One's remains, transports himself back into the digital world. Several months later, Prateek and Sonia return to the UK, where Prateek finally manages to restore G.One to the real world, much to his and his mother's joy.

Cast

• Shahrukh Khan as Shekhar Subramaniam and G.One.

Shekhar is a goofy Tamilian game designer working in Barron Industries, who loves his family and especially his son. Shekhar often tries to impress his son about the former's "coolness" and bravery, though to not very good results. The protagonist of the game Ra.One, a deadpan character named G.One, is modeled on Shekhar. Khan was the first actor to be approached by Sinha, despite the fact that Sinha had never met Khan before. Khan performed the stunts in the film on his own. Khan faced considerable difficulty while filming. His character required him to apply prosthetic makeup for over eight hours a day, making consumption of food and water difficult. Besides this, he also suffered severe discomfort with his superhero suit. Subsequently, he lost ten kilos of weight at the end of filming. Khan also injured his left knee during filming, causing considerable pain to him. Despite this, Khan postponed his knee surgery till after the release of the film.

• Kareena Kapoor as Sonia Subramaniam and Ra.One.

Sonia is Shekhar's wife, a Punjabi woman who indulges in foul language and is writing a "thesis" about male-centered expletives. Initially there were three choices for the female lead - Priyanka Chopra, Asin Thottumkal and Kapoor; however, Kapoor herself approached Khan when the casting was being finalized, and hence she was chosen. Kapoor reportedly refused to do any action scenes due to her dislike for stunts and wire work. For the film, she lost five kilos of weight and followed multiple special diets drawn up by her dietitian Rujuta Diwekar.

• Arjun Rampal as Ra.One.

Ra.One is the titular character of the film, and of the game Ra.One. He comes out of the virtual world and into the real world so as to defeat Lucifer. Ra.One has the ability to take up different forms, and assumes the form of a human later on. Rampal, being close to both Khan and Sinha, was approached for the title (negative) role which he accepted, making it his third role in a film with Khan after Don: The Chase Begins Again (2006) and Om Shanti Om (2007). However, he had to back out later due to persisting back problems, and was subsequently replaced by Vivek Oberoi who had also been auditioning for the role. Later, it was reported that Rampal recovered well and was re-instated into the film. For his role, Rampal followed a special high-protein diet with regulated intake of water, trained at the gym daily for a year and shaved his head almost completely. Due to his training and difficulties with his super-villain suit, Rampal lost six kilos of weight at the end of filming.

• Shahana Goswami as Jenny Nayar.

Jenny is a graphics designer and Shekhar's work colleague. She is close to the Subramaniam family, and is also aware of Prateek's poor views of his father. She designs the look of G.One in the film. Goswami faced some difficulty performing a dance sequence for the song "Criminal".

• Armaan Verma as Prateek Subramaniam alias Lucifer, Shekhar's and Sonia's son.

Prateek is a "cool dude" as per his own description, and an expert game player. Prateek finds his father embarassing, old-fashioned and boring. Verma's mother contacted the casting director of the film through Verma's school's founder-director. He was required to go through several audition rounds involving action and dance until he was selected to play the role. To prepare for his role, Verma learnt capoeira and also did his own stunts. He was part of filming for 1½ years, and his presence in the film was kept secret till a major part of the production was complete.

• Tom Wu as Akashi and Ra.One.

Akashi is a work colleague of Shekhar and Jenny, and a good friend of both. He provides the entire motion demonstration and tests for the game, and is the first person to realize that the game Ra.One is unusual. Initially, Khan had wanted Jackie Chan to portray Akashi. He had reportedly sent Chan the detailed script of the film, the action sequences and a brief synopsis of his character; it was later confirmed that Chan would not be part of the project. It was subsequently announced that Chinese-American actor Wu had been finalized for the role; he was contracted to the film in July 2010.

• Dalip Tahil as Barron, the owner of Barron Industries and the boss of Shekhar, Jenny and Akashi.
• Satish Shah as Iyer, a well-meaning neighbor of the Subramaniam family in Mumbai. Prateek is romantically interested in Iyer's daughter.
• Rajinikanth as Chitti (Guest appearance)
• Sanjay Dutt as Khalnayak (Guest appearance)
• Priyanka Chopra as The Desi Girl (Guest appearance)
• Amitabh Bachchan in a voice-over, describing the game-play of Ra.One in the official launch of the game.

Production

Origins and development

"Ra.One is the modern, new age technology version of our mythological "Raavan", who was a mixture of ten different evil characters. I am essaying the role of G.One or better say "Jeevan", a superhero who saves the mankind from Ra.One's torment. Through this film, I want to prove that Indian superheroes can also be as cool as the international ones."

—Shahrukh Khan on Ra.One

According to director Anubhav Sinha, the idea of Ra.One originated while he was watching a commercial on television dealing with kids controlling a human with a remote. He had got attracted to it and wrote a three-page short story based on the commercial, which he felt was good enough to be made into a film. At the same time, Shahrukh Khan (independent from Sinha) decided to make a film which involved heavy usage of VFX, during the release of Main Hoon Na (2004). After finalizing the story, Sinha approached Khan, who agreed to produce and star in it. Khan initially approached several directors to lead the project, including Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar, but they all refused. Khan's home production house Red Chillies Entertainment (RCE) continued working on other projects before finalizing the aspects of Ra.One. After the release of My Name Is Khan (2010), RCE focused solely on Ra.One and did not take up any other films.

Pre-production work began in November 2007 after the release of Khan's Om Shanti Om. Kanika Dhillon began the script-writing process by taking notes and having discussions at Mannat (Khan's residence), over a year prior to the start of principal photography. Dhillon noted the descriptive and visual nature of the script, commenting "With each scene, we were discovering the beauty and horror of the superpowers they were equipped with. In a way, the script defined the characters and the extent of their larger-than-life appeal." Khan, not wishing to alienate audiences, wanted a superhero that people would identify with. Sinha spent several months viewing video clips, digital art portals and comic books; he later explained that this process helped him to "create a novel character". Khan's idea was to make a simple family drama which expanded into an action film. To prepare the film's premises and characterisation, Sinha and Khan watched around 200 superhero films from all over the world, including Batman (1989), Spider-Man (2002) and Krrish (2006).

Filming

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the sets of Ra.One

Principal photography for the film began in March 2009, one-and-a-half years after the start of pre-production work. Nicola Pecorini was engaged as the director of photography at the last moment after a Swiss filmmaker opted out of the film; V. Manikandan provided extra assistance. Pecorini said that he had been "cheated" into working on the film when he was told that it was in English. Andy Gill, who had prior Bollywood experience with Toonpur Ka Super Hero (2010), was hired as the stunts supervisor; Nino Pansini was the stunt cinematographer. Despite his experience, Gill admitted that he was inexperienced with films of the scale of Ra.One. Sinha's assistant director was Terry Bamber.

Filming for Ra.One was due to begin in Miami, and several plans for filming had already been laid; due to budget concerns, the idea of filming in Miami was scrapped. The first phase of filming began in India on March 24, 2010 on the eve of Ram Navami in Goa, and continued until May. Production of the film's second and third phase began in July 2010 in London with the entire cast; the schedule included a song sequence in a restaurant and a heavy duty action scene involving Khan and Kapoor. During this period, a picture of Kapoor's character was revealed to the media.

The film's final production phase commenced at Filmistan Studios in December 2010 over a seven-day period. During a visit to India, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai and watched Khan at work. The remaining portions were filmed in Mumbai and completed in July 2011. The schedule included the filming of the cameos of Priyanka Chopra and Sanjay Dutt, which was done at Film City.

The action scene involving the Mumbai local train was filmed partially indoors; other portions had to be filmed on real running trains. The indoor portions were filmed on two replicas of a train coach which were built in five days, a process Gill initially thought would take three weeks. A glitch occurred during indoor filming, as the train and track length ended up being the same, making any movement impossible. A six-car train had to be arranged and the sequence was filmed outdoors despite other trains running nearby. The outdoor filming of the scene encountered problems. Initially, the scene was supposed to show Khan running on top of the train. However, the trains were electric instead of diesel, forcing an on-the-spot change of the sequence.

File:Ra.One Train Indoor Filming.JPG

File:Ra.One Train Outdoor Filming.JPG

Filming of the train action scene was done both indoors (top) and outdoors.

Pecorini faced considerable difficulty on the film sets, which was further aggravated by his lack of experience on Bollywood films. He called the experience "like nothing he had ever imagined before", and described Ra.One as a "soup with too many ingredients". Pecorini faced much difficulty due to the lack of storyboarding, property masters and call sheets; additionally, he was surprised at the low proportion of sequences with respect to the film's running time. Pecorini also commented on the phenomenon of over staffing; nine cameras were handled by 79 crew members, many of whom were unaware of the working of the other cameras. This resulted in communication with multiple crew members, making the cinematography take six times the usual time of filming.

Filming for certain scenes continued right until a few weeks before release. Rajnikanth, accompanied by daughter Soundarya, filmed his scene with Khan and Kapoor on October 2, 2011 at Subhash Ghai's Whistling Woods Studios in Mumbai despite health problems. To minimise the strain on the actor, the shoot was finished in a few hours and the scenes were digitally transferred into the background later. A music video for the song "Raftaarein", choreographed by Feroz Khan, was filmed one week before the release due to an excellent critical response to the song.

Post-production

The post-production of Ra.One involved over 5,000 personnel from India, Italy, UK and the US; 400 of these personnel were from Red Chillies Entertainment. The film was pieced together by more than 1,000 people, working in shifts, in around 15 studios across the world. The film's post-production received widespread media coverage, specifically regarding multiple delays it faced prior to release.

File:Ra.One Pre-Post VFX.jpg

View of a car-based action scene filmed at the Battersea Power Station in London, before (top) and after post-production work removed filming details

Due to the revived interest in 3D film technology in India, the makers of the film debated converting portions of the film into 3D. Khan said that parts of the film may be converted to 3D, provided the tests and screen-shots of the scenes were deemed satisfactory by the technical crew. However, there was a good deal of scepticism regarding such conversions, especially since 3D shooting required completely different types of cameras. In July 2011, it was announced that the entire film would be converted into 3D, a process that was initially expected to require approximately 1,000 people. The conversion was assigned to Prime Focus, which had considerable experience in 3D conversion due to their work on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011).

The conversion process was reported to be a key reason for the increase in the film's production budget. A separate conversion facility was created for the conversion work on Ra.One. Prime Focus delivered the complete conversion for the film by utilizing its proprietary View-D software, and making use of a global digital pipeline. The process involved converting 4,400 film shots from 2D to 3D, and ended up requiring the effort of 2,600 artists from facilities in India and London. Merzin Tavaria, co-founder of Prime Focus, said that the quality of 3D was of international standards, though the quality could have been better if the conversion work had begun at the conceptualization stage itself.

Martin Walsh was assigned as the film's editor. Walsh was present with the crew for over four weeks, responsible for editing all the chase and action sequences. He initially faced an "incredulous response" when he suggested that musical numbers be integrated into the story flow, but later expressed great satisfaction with his experience on the film. Academy Award-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty was assigned the duty of enhancing the sound effects using the Dolby Surround 7.1 system. In an interview, he said, "Ra.One is not just a movie experience [...] It requires a very unconventional sound and visual quality for which we are installing the required equipment." The addition of sound effects was done in Los Angeles. The film's background score was recorded at three studios in Mumbai; the score for the scene involving Rajnikanth was provided by A. R. Rahman. Pookutty commented that his biggest challenge was bridging reality with the virtual world; he also declared that the sound technology used in Ra.One would "define cinema and entertainment in the future." In October 2011, the film's post-production work faced a minor setback when Pookutty's studio-space in Andheri, Mumbai, was flooded, and some of the film's footage was damaged.

Initially, the prints of Ra.One were expected to be ready a month prior to its release. However, the post-production work took considerably longer than was initially expected, triggering fears that the film would not be ready for release by its Diwali deadline. Khan had to postpone his knee surgery, initially planned on July 25, 2011, due to extensive post-production work. Three studios worked around-the-clock to meet the deadline. Both Pookutty and Sinha stated that the pace of work had been increased, and reassured the media about the film's release.

The process of inter-mediation (DI) of the film was completed in Prime Focus' mainframe facility. The color grading of the film was performed by London-based colorist Richard Fearon. Ten days before the film's release, the DI process encountered severe delays. The film was monitored in Croma by the team during that period. Delays were attributed to increased work due to the multiple versions (3D and dubbed) of the film. The incorporation of visual effects was another key factor behind the increased time for post-production. Merzin Tavaria reported that, "The VFX shots kept coming in till the very last minute so there was a lot of work that kept shuttling back and forth." The final batch of visual effects was delivered a week before the scheduled release. As a result, the crew had only two days to complete the film and send it for printing, further increasing anxiety regarding the film's release. As the film approached its release, Khan kept a strict tab on the progress of the film's post-production work, keeping daily reports to verify the progress. On October 20, 2011, Sinha tweeted that the post-production of the film had been completed.

Visual effects

Red Chillies VFX, a sub-company of Red Chillies Entertainment, was responsible for the visual effects of the film. One-third of the film's production budget was utilised for its visual effects. Extensive research was carried out by the crew and it focussed on setting up proper software and creating "the right team" during pre-production. A number of studios were involved in the creation of the effect shots in the film. 1,200 artists from 16 studios worked in three shifts to incorporate the film's visual effects. Two-and-a-half years of work was put into the special effects aspects of the film. After the film's release, Red Chillies VFX released a demo reel showcasing how the visual effects were incorporated into Ra.One.

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File:Ra.One Cubical Formations.jpg

The default, faceless form of Ra.One (above) and the process of cubical reformation.

Impressed by the work he had seen in Stargate, Khan hired Jeffrey Kleiser and his company Synthespian Studios as the supervisor of visual effects in January 2010. Kleiser oversaw the addition of visual effects, along with a team of 750 technicians from his studio. Prime Focus also worked on the visual effects for the film. Edwark Quirk, who had previously worked on Planet of the Apes (2001), supervised over the CGI work in the film. Ra.One was reported to have 3,500 special effects shots, with a total run-time of 135 minutes, thus exceeding the quantity of shots that were used in Avatar; most of the shots were produced in India by Red Chillies VFX and later worked upon in specialty studios in the United States, the UK, France and Thailand so as to minimize delays.

Incorporation of the visual effects into Ra.One began in March 2010, during the film's production. Hingorani stated that 60% of the film was comprised of visual effects, incorporated in 37 sequences. Keitan Yadav wrote: "There is no software or technique in the industry that we have not used for this film. For 3D, we have used software like Maya, Houdini and Macs. For composites, we have used Nuke and Shake. We have even written our own programmes. We programmed certain things rather than doing them manually." Synthespian Studios carried out 120 visual effects shots involving the digital cubic transformations of the characters, a process Kleiser noted as "the most challenging part of the film". Graphic designers created customized software which mimicked artificial intelligence, allowing individual digital cubes to dynamically collaborate with each other so as to break apart and re-form into objects and characters. Each mutation of Ra.One was planned and executed so that each cube was tracked and recreated to match the multiple physical attributes.

The visual effects also involved location replication, as several environments had to be recreated in studio. The team spent several hours taking photographs of locations which would be used later; for the action scene at Battersea Power Station, the crew took 3,000 photographs so as to recreate it using CGI. To recreate a 150-foot tall building which Khan climbs during the scene, a digital pre-visualization was created for each frame; based on the requirement, 3D models were created which served as a key for the design of indoor sets. Khan and Rampal filmed the scene in Croma, which was then superimposed on the power station's CGI replica and subsequently matched with the pre-visualization.

EyeQube Studios, which had incorporated the visual effects in Drona (2008), was also one of the participating visual effects studios for Ra.One. Headed by CEO Vamsi Ayyagiri, EyeQube was responsible for the addition of 500 visual effects shots in the film. Ayyagiri commented that the most challenging aspect of the film was blending reality with the virtual feel of the film. EyeQube was involved with the visual effects revolving around the multiple levels of the film, where they worked on the futuristic environments of the levels. Level 1 was created entirely with CGI, and was completed by filming 12 different shots and combining them into a single shot. Level 3 involved a change in the filming concept; scale-model sets were built, and live action elements were replaced by CGI-based sets. A major challenge was to fit the actors properly into the digital world so as to make the sequences convincing. Ayyagiri later praised Khan and Sinha, and credited them with "raising the bar of visual effects to the next level"; he also brushed away allegations of plagiarism regarding certain looks of the film.

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G.One before (left) and after addition of visual effects.

The visual effects of the film involved several complex and challenging aspects which took considerable time and effort to complete. Hingorani singled out one process and said that it took around 12 days to create a single frame shot of glass flying onto Khan's character; the entire scene effectively took 40,000 hours to render on 125 machines, with each shot requiring 135 hours. Initially, the scene was planned to be done entirely using CGI, but Sinha felt that CGI glass would lack realism. Hence, the shot was filmed with a wide-panned shot and a close-up shot of Khan running, which acted as textures, without actually breaking any glass. The glass breaking was later added using CGI. Designing the face of Ra.One and incorporating his "rebirth" scene with the face of Rampal took nearly a year to complete; the face was created by using geometrical cubes added to wires. The destruction of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus was done by recreating the entire scene using a miniature version, and reducing it to rubble. Other challenging scenes included a pivotal car chase scene in London which involved crashing through a bus, realistically creating a fight scene in mid-air, the cloning of Ra.One and the final battle between G.One and Ra.One. The film's visual effects also incorporated time slicing; to capture a scene of Khan and Rampal being frozen in mid-air, over 60 still cameras were utilized, moving at an angle of 220°. The final appearance of the superhero suits worn by the lead characters in the film was also achieved using visual effects;^{see section below} 800 visual effects shots were solely dedicated to G.One's suit in the film.

Despite the lack of proximity between the several groups of technicians working on Ra.One, the entire process of incorporating the visual effects was co-ordinated by means of virtual collaboration using digital connectivity. The progress was reviewed every alternate day through video conferencing between the technicians situated at various countries, and improvements were made by sketching over the filmed shots. Elements of highly complex shots were created in separate locations and later composited together into a single shot. Kleiser commented, "Artists and technicians at different facilities around the world could participate as though we were all huddled in the same screening room. We can pick out a team from around the world, and work with them remotely [...] Five years ago, this would have been inconceivable."

Costumes

File:Arjun Rampal Ra.One.jpg

The body suit of Ra.One

The body suits worn by Khan and Rampal were designed by special effects designers Robert Kurtzman and Tim Flattery. The suits were made by a team of specialists based in Los Angeles. Each suit reportedly cost ₹1 crore (US$120,000). Khan's suit was made of reinforced latex and was steel-blue in color; additionally, the suit was fitted with micro-computer circuitry. Rampal's suit was made of three-inch thick solid rubber, and was red in color. Both actors were required to wear additional suits inside their body suits so as to prevent skin contact. A total of 21 costumes were made for use in the film.

To create the mold of the suit, Khan was required to enter into a small chamber wearing minimal clothing. A warm latex-like liquid was subsequently released into the chamber, reaching until his neck. The liquid was allowed to solidify, forming the mold, and was then peeled off Khan's body. The suit was joined by a concealed zipper and taken for modifications, finally forming the suit used in the film. The entire process reportedly took an hour, and was described as "painful". However, Khan decided to add computer-generated embellishments to the suits after expressing dissatisfaction with the initial rushes of the film. Subsequently, the technical team added light beams and electricity to the suits.

The body suits were the primary reason for both Khan and Rampal facing considerable difficulties during filming. Since removing the suits took a good deal of time, water and food intake had to be regulated. In addition, the non-porous nature of the suits created intense heat inside, causing excessive perspiration despite the presence of special air conditioning ducts; warm weather at shooting locations aggravated the problem. Consequently, both actors lost considerable weight while filming. In addition, a malfunction occurred in Khan's suit which required three months to fix.

The costume of Kareena Kapoor in the song "Chammak Challo" from the film received widespread media coverage, in addition to the body suits of Khan and Rampal. In the song, Kapoor wore a red sari draped in the style of a dhoti. The particular sari and Kapoor's look was designed by Manish Malhotra, who was also Kapoor's designer for the entire film. Since the official release of the song, Kapoor's costume gained immense popularity, prompting a number of media outlets to describe her sari as "a [fashion] rage".

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The red sari worn by Kapoor in the song "Chammak Challo"

The sari, and very notably the particular red shade worn by Kapoor, became a major fashion trend in a number of countries, with the sari's color colloquially being termed "the Kareena waala red". Fashion experts also commented on the craze, with unanimous praise for Kapoor's look. Film stylist Samidha Wanganoo applauded Kapoor's ability to carry off a "fiery and bold" color like red, and claimed that "It [red] makes the haute black look so redundant now". Mauritius-based fashion consultant Kiran Gidwani-Tolaram said, "The red that Kareena is wearing in the song is a very vibrant and hot shade. It is natural when someone as stunning as her wears a bold colour like that, it is bound to be in vogue and dictate trends." Gidwani-Tolaram also reported about a "flood" of demands for exactly the same style of sari, and commented that the particular style was the favorite of the Mauritian Prime Minister's wife. However, Sangita Kathiwada, creative director of a prominent Mumbai fashion store, dismissed the theory that Kapoor had popularised red saris and said, "What is Kareena Kapoor wala red? I mean Kareena is gorgeous and looks lovely in the Chammak Challo song and many more saris will sell because she just looks stunning wearing it. But I still wouldn’t go as far as calling it the Kareena Kapoor wala red."

Soundtrack

Main article: Ra.One (soundtrack)

The soundtrack of Ra.One was composed by Vishal-Shekhar and its lyrics were written by Atahar Panchi, Vishal Dadlani and Kumaar. Director Anubhav Sinha announced that R&B singer Akon would record two songs for the film and the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra would also perform on the soundtrack. The makers of the film complied with international copyright laws and obtained the license to use Ben E. King's "Stand By Me", on which they based the song "Dildaara". The film's music rights were bought by T-Series for ₹15 crore (US$1.8 million).

The album features fifteen tracks, including seven original songs, four remixes, three instrumentals and an international version of "Chammak Challo". All versions of "Chammak Challo" featured Akon as a vocalist. The album was released by T-Series on September 12, 2011 and the Tamil and Telugu versions were released on October 10, 2011 featuring six tracks each. Upon release, the soundtrack met with an overwhelmingly positive critical reception and subsequently gained widespread international popularity.^{[see main]}

Marketing

Promotions

File:Khan promoting Ra.One film in association with MacDonalds.jpg

Khan promoting the Ra.One Happy Meal from McDonald's.

The producers of Ra.One set a record marketing budget of around ₹52 crore (US$6.2 million), making it the highest ever for a Bollywood film. Online promotions accounted for ₹15 crore (US$1.8 million) of this budget. The producers spent up to ₹10 crore (US$1.2 million) while tie-up partners covered the remaining marketing costs. The film's extensive promotion and marketing campaign were described as the "the most comprehensive and all-pervasive among people's lives", and a "promotional blitzkrieg"

Promotion of the film officially began in December 2010 when the first poster was published in many Indian newspapers. The film's first look was later unveiled by Khan on his Twitter page on January 1, 2011. Later, Sinha announced the launch of two teaser trailers of the film during the 2011 Cricket World Cup, nine months before the film's release. Asked about why he was launching the film's trailer so early, Sinha commented, "Ra.One is not a Bollywood film that [the audiences] have seen before. The kind of size and magnitude that the film has requires it to be slowly introduced to the audience and that is the very purpose why we are starting the whole communication so early." The film's first full-length theatrical trailer was released three months later to the public. To promote the theatrical trailer, Khan was accompanied by the director on a tour of five cities, which included Delhi, Chandigarh, Indore and Ahmedabad. During this event, a 3600 ft long fan mail collecting audience wishes and messages for the film was also launched.

The official website of the film was unveiled on May 31, 2011. In September 2011, Red Chillies Entertainment (RCE) launched a viral marketing campaign to promote the film online. The company launched an official, customised Ra.One channel on YouTube, the first for an Indian film. Several songs and theatrical promos were released, and videos of events, the film's production and some uncut footage were posted to the channel. The channel also hosts games, including the first social game from India, and contests where participants can create promos from clips, music and dialogue of the film.

Khan announced that the film would be subsidised through major brand ties-up including Formula One races, Nokia, Godrej Consumer Products, Coca-Cola, HCL, Horlicks and HomeShop18. Co-producers and distributors of the film, Eros International, released an official statement stating that it and RCE had recovered a major portion of their investments through in-film branding, media endorsements, music and satellite rights. On October 20, 2011, Khan and Kapoor chatted with fans live on Google Plus; it was the first time any Indian film personality had done this. Three weeks before the film's release, a mass media campaign was launched by Western Union for international promotions using radio, television, print media and outdoor advertising. The campaign was launched in the US, Canada, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions and was targeted at non-resident Indians across the world.

"My last strategy was that I do not want any one to know what the bad guy looks like. You see it in the film. The film is called Ra.One but no one knows what [he] looks like. Last week before the film releases, we will let everyone know what he looks like. It is not going to shake the earth, but all the facets are being revealed as a picture puzzle being peeled off."

—Khan talking about the promotional strategy regarding the look of the villain, "Ra.One"

The look of the film's titular character Ra.One, portrayed by Rampal, was heavily guarded and kept strictly secret; the entire filming unit were required to keep mobile phones away from shooting locations, and to sign non-disclosure agreements. The character was scheduled to be revealed on the eve of Dussehra. According to the producers, the time was chosen to show the symbolism between Ra.One and the mythological villain Ravana (of the Ramayana), both of whom were "equally bad". Due to technical problems, the character's appearance was revealed in the film's final theatrical trailer and received a positive reception. Commenting on the response to his look in the film, Rampal said: "The response has been phenomenal. People have liked my look. I am glad I have not disappointed anyone as there was so much anticipation for the film. I was petrified initially, wondering if my look would be appreciated and accepted. But it has been worth the wait."

Video games

Shahrukh Khan launches 'G.One' – Nvidia GEFORCE GTX 560Ti graphic card.

According to the company's digital and new media head Shailja Gupta, the idea behind the digital marketing was to create a franchisee for Ra.One. She said, "Social gaming is just one part of the digit marketing strategy. The unique part of the social game is the integration of merchandise and gaming." In July 2011, Red Chillies Entertainment (RCE) announced a tie-up with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) to build a full cycle game of the film for Sony's PlayStation console. "Ra.One – The Game" was released on October 5, 2011 at an event in Mumbai. The game features approximately 20 environments and voice-overs by the actors. It was available on PlayStation 2 in India and PlayStation 3 for the international market. Khan volunteered to write the game script, dubbed for the game, and oversaw its technical development. The project was the first full cycle PlayStation 3 blu-ray disc game developed with an Indian developer, the first console game to be dubbed by leading Bollywood actors and the first Bollywood title to appear in a full cycle video game.

SCEE paid around ₹4.5 crore (US$540,000) to license the Ra.One rights and ₹3 crore (US$360,000) to market and promote the game through offline promotions and about 250 television advertisement spots. At the time of its launch, 21,000 game consoles were sold and 100,000 units were expected to be sold across India alone. On October 14, 2011, a gaming tournament titled "The Ra.One Nvidia GeForce lan" was held in Mumbai. The event hosted around 1,000 gamers competing against each other and included the games FIFA, Counter-Strike and Call of Duty, and was telecast live on YouTube.

RCE also collaborated with UTV Indiagames to design a social game called the Ra.One Genesis, based on the film. The game cost approximately ₹4.5 crore (US$540,000) to produce; its storyline is not related to that of the movie, but it is based on the character of G.One. The game was launched across platforms like mobiles, tablet PCs, the direct-to-home platform and social networking sites like Facebook. The game reached #1 on the iTunes store within 24 hours of its launch, becoming the first Bollywood movie app to be top-featured on iPhone and iPad. It also became the most downloaded game in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Malaysia within 24 hours of being launched. The game reached one million downloads in a week; in India, the game ended up tallying over three million downloads and was later considered as a "benchmark" for other gaming companies.

Merchandise and comics

To promote the film and increase its franchising business, Shahrukh Khan tied up with Seventymm to market merchandise related to the film. Original G.One tee shirts, coffee mugs, wrist bands, watches, mobile pouches, video cameras were among the items sold. The official G.One online store sold similar merchandise. 90% of the 400,000 stationery items and toys were sold in 15 days and an additional 100,000 were ordered. The makers spent ₹1.5 crore (US$180,000) on the mold for the G.One action figure. A range of jewellery line inspired by the symbol of Ra.One, and a series of HCL laptops with customised integrated Ra.One skin were also made available. Red Chillies Entertainment also collaborated with UTV Indiagames to develop digital comics based on the film's characters. The comics, published separately, were written by Khan and featured weekly episodes that served as a prequel to the events portrayed in the movie.

Release

File:Premeire of 'Ra.One' in London.jpg

Khan, Kapoor and Rampal (l-r) at Ra.One's premiere in London

Between October 24 and 26, 2011, Ra.One had international premieres in Dubai, London and Toronto, all of which were chosen because of their large international significance and the presence of large South Asian populations.

The film's first international premiere was held in Dubai on October 24, 2011 at the Grand Cinemas, Wafi. Afterwards, a high-profile dinner and charity auction were held, where Khan raised KWD30,000 to build a workshop for children with special needs. The premiere was the first Indian film to sell tickets for its shows and to have three simultaneous screenings for the event. The London premiere of the film took place at the O₂ Cineworld the following day and the Toronto premiere took place at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on October 26, 2011. Due to a conflict with Kapoor's scheduled appearance at Madame Tussauds, it was later announced that she would not attend the film's premiere in Toronto.

Ra.One surpassed several records among Indian films for the volume of theatrical release in India and worldwide. In India, the film was released in 3,100 screens, breaking the record of Bodyguard (2011), which was released in 2,700 screens. Overseas, the film was expected to be released in around 1,500 screens with 904 prints. Release was expected in 600 screens in Germany, 250 screens in South Korea, 25 prints in Taiwan, 25 prints in New Zealand, 75 prints in Russia, 79 prints in the Middle East, 344 prints in the US, 51 prints in Australia, 202 prints in the UK and 49 prints in Canada. A reported partnership deal is being finalised by the distributors, which will allow the film to be released in China with 1,000 prints. The 3D version was released in 550 selected screens around the world. Also, 275 prints of the Tamil version and 125 of the Telugu version were released.

The film's release has been noted for its wide use of digital prints to lower distribution costs, release the film to a wider audience and reduce piracy. A week before its release, multiplex owners throughout India decided to allot the project with 95% of the total available screen space. Uncertainty arose concerning the release of 3D version. Khan clarified on the microblogging site Twitter that the 3D version would be released on the set date.

Television and home media

The television broadcasting rights for Ra.One were bought by Star India for a then-record sum of ₹35 crore (US$4.2 million), surpassing the previous record set by 3 Idiots (₹33 crore (US$4.0 million)). The Indian television premiere of Ra.One took place on January 21, 2012 on STAR Gold. The film garnered an audience rating of 6.7 and a market share of 28% for the channel. Discovery Channel tied up with RCE to air a special program titled "Revealed: The Making of Ra.One", a one-hour program which appeared on the channel on March 30, 2012. The program discussed the making of the film in detail, including the visual effects and the challenges faced while filming. Eros International released the DVD of Ra.One on December 13, 2011 across all regions in one-disc and two-disc packs complying the NTSC format. The DVD of the film was priced at ₹299 (US$3.60), and contained several supplementary parts including deleted scenes, the making of the film and the London premiere; it was also available in Tamil and Telugu audio versions. The DVD version of the film also contained alternate endings. Initially, Khan had wanted to add alternate endings in the theatrical release version itself, but later deemed it risky. The DVD version was made interactive as well. VCD and Blu-Ray versions of the film were also released, priced at ₹115 (US$1.40) and ₹799 (US$9.60) respectively.

Censor ratings

On October 14, 2011, Ra.One was submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification to receive an official rating. Upon submitting the script, the Board raised strong objections to the film's action scenes; it was concerned that the film would influence young children, who might emulate the stunts. After much deliberation, the film was passed with a 'U' certificate without cuts, but under the condition that prominent disclaimers stating that the stunts were computer-generated and should not be imitated were shown. The Indian Railways security force and the police had made similar objections to the train-based stunts in the film, claiming that youngsters would "blindly imitate them" and hence put their lives at risk. In March 2012, Ra.One faced allegations of receiving a favored censor rating from the Board, in addition to violating the rule of producers not meeting with the Board officials during the screening.

Controversies

After the principal photography began, Ra.One faced allegations of plagiarism and similarities with other film projects, including Enthiran. When asked about this, Khan said, "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." Commenting on Enthiran, he said, "they [both] are different films. I will not like to talk about anyone else's film but Rajni sir is respectable to all of us."

On June 3, 2011, three days after its launch, the official website of the film was hacked by suspected Pakistani cyber criminals who stated that the act was in revenge for a similar attack on a Karachi press club website. The hackers left a note threatening the Indian Press Club and defaced the homepage.

Days before its release, a scriptwriter, Yash Patnaik, claimed that the film resembled a concept that he had developed several years back. Patnaik subsequently moved his appeal to the Bombay High Court, pleading for a delay in the film's release until he was given due credit or 10% of the film's overall profit. The court, observing the prima facie evidence that there had been copyright violations, asked the filmmakers to deposit ₹1 crore (US$120,000) on October 21, 2011 with the court before releasing the film. However, challenging the court decision, Patnaik demanded that the producers give him a credit and not cash. Sinha claimed that he himself had developed the film's story.

Critical reception

India

Upon release, Ra.One received mixed reviews from critics in India. Film reviewers were separated into two factions. Some critics thought that the film had brought the level of Indian films to a par with Hollywood films, while others complained about the flawed script. According to review aggregator Review Gang, professional critics gave the film an average rating of 50%.

Review Scores
Source	Rating
Bollywood Hungama
Deccan Chronicle
Gulf News
Filmfare
The Times of India
Subhash K. Jha
Stardust
Koimoi
Indo-Asian News Service
India Today
DNA India †
Daily Bhaskar
NDTV
The Economic Times
Mid-Day
CNN-IBN
Sify
Rediff †
Hindustan Times
Zee News
The Mumbai Mirror
The Indian Express
Yahoo!	<1
† is provided for average rating of multiple reviews from a single source

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film a score of 4.5 out of 5 and said, "Ra.One is the most ambitious, most expensive and the most technologically complex Hindi film ever made. It pushes the envelope further ... It is a film that will rewrite the textbook of computer graphics in Hindi cinema. At the same time, it is very Indian at heart." He was later criticised for "over-rating" the film. Khalid Mohamed from Deccan Chronicle gave it 4 out of 5 stars, concluding, "Here's a technical accomplishment with as much heart as hardware". Rachit Gupta of Filmfare gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, and wrote, "Ra.One is an enjoyable sci-fi and CGI fiesta that will transport you to a world of kooky fantasy and video game heroes."

Nikhat Kazmi from The Times of India rated the film 3.5 stars out of 5, and wrote that "Ra.One is sure to usher in a crackling Diwali at the box office and give the audience paisa vasool entertainment, with fine performances by both Shah Rukh and Kareena. Even young Armaan is efficient. Go have a blast." Subhash K Jha gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, and commented, "Ra.One is a saucy, sassy, scintillating super-hero film which knows exactly when to let the narrative flow in a furious frenzy of hyper-activity, and when to brake the goings-on just before the hysterical happenings topple into the realm of irretrievable absurdity." K.K. Rai of Stardust gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, and wrote that, "Ra.One is a visual treat with top notch computer graphics and other use of high-tech gadgetry. It is certainly better than anything Bollywood has offered so far, and is more in consonance with standards of Hollywood. Anubhav's execution of the screenplay is perfect, and pacing most suitable to the genre of the flick." Komal Nahta of Koimoi.com also gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, praised the performances of the lead actors but added that the story, based on gaming and technology, would be difficult for the older generation to comprehend. The Indo-Asian News Network also gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and said that "Ra.One is still probably one of the classiest movies seen in the Hindi film industry and a feather in Anubhav's hat." Kaveri Bamzai of India Today gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5, and wrote, "Welcome to a movie as a gigantic open house. This is film-making not so much as noble passion but as grand indulgence, not so much as a marathon magic show but as an event to be managed." Soumyadipta Banerjee of DNA India gave the film 3.5 stars, and said, "The real story is the way the film is carried forward and the special effects. It's worth a worth. It might be not be a good idea to watch it for the second time around though."

Aniruddha Guha of DNA India gave it 3 stars and said, "Ra.One is beautiful in appearance, but empty within. Which is a pity. Anubhav could have really made a mark with this one." Sanchari Bhattacharya of Rediff.com called the film "escapist entertainment" and gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Daily Bhaskar gave it 3 out of 5 stars, and wrote that "Ra.One is surely crafted as a kids' entertainer, The movie is a joyful cinematic experience for game enthusiasts." Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV awarded the film 3 out of 5 stars, and said, "Ra.One packs in just about everything under the sun and the moon so that the paying public goes home feeling they haven't been shortchanged. It trundles along all right but never quite hits the high roads." Gaurav Malani of The Economic Times gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, and commented, "Though the sci-fi concept seems too far-fetched, the director is able to pull it off with visual dazzlery and fast-paced storytelling that the genre demands. The action sequences are thrillingly and credibly choreographed."

Some critics gave the film average or mixed reviews. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, praising Khan's performance but arguing that, "while this superhero film has plenty sound and fury, it's sorely lacking slickness." Sonia Chopra of Sify gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, and wrote, "Ra.One is a visual extravaganza and fun enough. The only reason one stops short of recommending Ra.One is the sporadic adult content that has no business being in a film for kids. Too bad, really." Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com wrote that "The 3D version of Ra.One has nothing extra to offer" giving it 2.5 out of 5 stars. Shubha Shetty-Shah of Mid-Day gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, and described the film as "A good enough germ of an idea, which is happily killed by interspersing it with below-the-belt humour and bollywoodisation."

The film also received a number of negative reviews. Mayank Shekhar of Hindustan Times gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, and wrote, "Neither here nor there, everything appears so visibly constructed and all over the place that you can look through the wires, rather than blend in with the experience." Arthur J. Pais of Rediff.com rated the film with 2 stars quoting "Ayyayyo, what a glorious mess of a film Ra.One is." Aseem Chhabra of Rediff.com criticised the film for its muddled script, gave it 2 out of 5 stars, and wrote, "There are video games that kids play, but then they shut them off, after they win or lose. Finally, Ra.One has a similar forgettable quality." Abhishek Mande of Rediff called the film "SRK's most expensive midlife crisis" and wrote that it "could have been great fun but didn't live up." Zee News said that, "The film has its moments but they are far and few in between. Some of the scenes are surely entertaining but when one goes to watch a SRK [Khan] film, one hopes to be entertained throughout, and sadly Ra.One fails to do so." Sanjukta Sharma of Mint called the film a "haphazard medley of Iron Man, The Matrix, Superman, Terminator 2 and age-old disappearing and levitating acts we've seen over and over again in no-brainer Rajnikanth blockbusters ... Anubhav Sinha's Ra.One is a spectacular disappointment." The Mumbai Mirror rated the film 2 out of a 5 stars, praised the action sequences but criticised the writing. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film 2 stars and said that "Ra.One is a superstarry slurry sludge, with just the occasional consolatory sparkle." Raja Sen of Rediff.com rated the film 1.5 out of 5 stars and said, "The film seems to think that nothing seems to matter as long as there's enough Khan, and it becomes tragically evident that this is a project born more out of vanity than passion." Saisuresh Sivaswamy of Rediff.com said, "Shah Rukh Khan's latest film offers no emotional connect with the audience even as its story flops in the telling", giving it 1.5 stars. Kunal Guha of Yahoo! panned the film, did not award it any stars and wrote that, "Ra.One does what no other sci-fi movie has done before: it mocks itself. It's convenient to say that if you have no expectations from the film, you wouldn't be disappointed."

Overseas

Overseas, the film received generally positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes rated the film at 77% "Fresh" (83% for top critics), and Metacritic gave the film a 60% rating.

Joe Neumaier from New York Daily News gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Ra.One has a witty sense of punky, gaming-style esthetics that American blockbusters try for but can't quite achieve." Kevin Thomas of Los Angeles Times said, "Ra.One is Bollywood at its best. It has energy, spectacle and humor, song and dance, but razzle-dazzle special effects and action stunts never overwhelm its story of enduring love that unfolds amid an intricate and inspired sci-fi odyssey". Rachel Saltz of The New York Times gave the film 3 out of 5 stars commenting, "Ra.One is a kind of entertainment machine set to dazzle, Hindi cinema with a crush on high-tech." Kirk Honeycutt from The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "India's first attempt at a superhero movie is both vigorous and emotionally fulfilling within the context of Bollywood traditions." Andrew O'Hehir from Salon wrote, "From dazzling dance numbers to post-Matrix action, RA. One showcases Bollywood's confidence."

International Business Times praised the performance of Shahrukh Khan and stated that the chemistry between him and his son, played by Armaan Verma, dazzles throughout the film: "He is wonderful as always. He fits into the role superbly ... His chemistry with his son Prateek in the film is wonderful ... Ra.One is an excellent superhero film; a complete entertainer." Rubina A. Khan of The First Post praised the film and stated that "Anubhav Sinha, the director of the film, has done a marvelous job in the action sequences ... The emotional scenes, too are very engaging — despite all the digital wizardry going on in the film." Manjari Saxena of Gulf News called it "a fun movie to catch." John Anderson of Variety gave the film an average review, and stated, "Along with Khan's presence, it's the effects that sell Ra.One, and they arrive more or less nonstop. Rather than incorporate the technology into the story, Sinha's CG acrobatics become the equivalent of a wide receiver doing backflips in the endzone – amusing, but beside the point."

Tamara Baluja of The Globe and Mail gave the film one out of four stars. Although she called the special effects "fantastic", she panned the movie as a whole. Simon Abrams of Slant Magazine also gave it one out of four stars and wrote: "Ra.One's indifferently demeaning scenario proves just how meaningless its creators' supposedly good intentions really are." Bloomberg rated the film with one out of four stars, and wrote, "While no one was expecting The Dark Knight from this film's makers, they could potentially have matched the entertaining and goofy Hellboy. Sadly, Khan and director Anubhav Sinha fail to understand the idiom of superhero cinema." Shilpa Jamkhandikar of Reuters gave the film a negative review for being "less of a movie and more of a product that is tailor-made to audiences looking for a Diwali movie."

Economics

Budget

The production budget of Ra.One was a matter of much debate prior to the film's release. A number of estimates regarding the film's budget were made by trade analysts. Box Office India estimated that the final total investment for the film was ₹175 crore (US$21 million). A majority of the sources placed the production budget of the film at ₹150 crore (US$18 million). Despite the large number of estimates, it was universally accepted that Ra.One was the most expensive Bollywood film as of that time; certain sources labelled Ra.One as the most expensive Indian film ever. The high cost of the film was a matter of concern regarding the profitability of the film. Noted trade analyst Komal Nahta compared Ra.One to other major Bollywood films, and commented that: "Ra.One's cost has [also] dented it's profitability since both 3 Idiots and Bodyguard were made at half the price of SRK's magnum opus." The high budget of the film meant high prices for distributor rights, further lowering possible profits.

As per official sources, the budget of Ra.One is ₹125 crore (US$15 million). The lower budget figure was attributed to the fact that the film's production took place in overseas locations (namely the UK). Nahta said, "Fiji Islands have declared a 50% and UK a 25%-30% subsidy for filmmakers. But it is also about giving a different experience to the viewer." As per reports, Ra.One received a subsidy of ₹20 crore (US$2.4 million) from the UK government in the form of tax rebates and other expense waivers; additionally, costs were reduced due to the completion of filming in a single schedule.

Pre-release economics

The worldwide distribution rights of Ra.Onewere acquired by Eros Entertainment for ₹77 crore (US$9.2 million). The distribution rights for the Tamil Nadu and Kerala regions were purchased by Abirami Ramanathan for a reportedly record, but undisclosed price. Ra.One set a new record for total pre-release revenue earned, netting ₹132 crore (US$16 million), and surpassed the previous record held by 3 Idiots, which had earned ₹85 crore (US$10 million) prior to its release.

The advance booking of Ra.One began on October 20, 2011 at select theaters to a muted response, primarily due to the odd release day (Wednesday) which generally does not have a particular time frame for starting advance booking. The response was similar to other Wednesday releases such as Bodyguard. A few days prior to release, the advance booking of Ra.One was described as "phenomenal". A number of territories reported huge advance booking reports for the film. The booking status was attributed to the craze for Khan; on October 24, 2011, a cinema official commented that, "People are crazy about him [Khan], so much so that if the movie is released today, it will go houseful in no time." Other factors for the huge advance bookings were the festive release and extensive promotion of the film. Due to the booking statistics, certain cinemas further increased the number of shows allotted to Ra.One. However, just before the release, the advance bookings for the 3D version of the film had to be halted at theaters due to Eros' announcement which said that, "the prints would be delayed since the 3D conversion in digital was not ready yet". Till two days before the release, theater owners were still unsure of the status of the film's 3D release, increasing release fears; certain cinema owners deemed the situation undesirable. On October 25, 2011, Box Office India reported that the advance bookings of Ra.One amounted to 20%-25% across India, with Nizam, Mysore and Ahmedabad circuits reporting huge numbers. While the overall advance was similar to Bodyguard, the volume of release gave Ra.One a considerable benefit; however, the advance in single screens was lower than Bodyguard.

Box Office

In February 2012, Box Office India reported that the Hindi version of Ra.One collected a worldwide gross revenue of ₹202 crore (US$24 million). According to Eros International, Ra.One grossed ₹240 crore (US$29 million) worldwide from all its versions. Box Office India declared the film a "hit" in India, and a "super hit" in the overseas markets. Ra.One set a number of box office records, both in India and worldwide.

India

Revenue table of Ra.One (Hindi)

Blue highlights records set

Timeline	Net Revenue	Ref
Day 1	₹14.63 crores
Day 2	₹22.8 crores
Day 3	₹15.5 crores
First Weekend	₹52.93 crores
First Weekend*	₹81 crores
First Week	₹91.27 crores
First Week*	₹97.47 crores
Second Weekend	₹9.65 crores
Second Week	₹15.29 crores
Third Week	₹1.43 crores
Remaining	₹59 lakhs
Lifetime	₹114.78 crores
* refers to extended timeline
₹1 crore = ₹100 lakhs = ₹10 million

Ra.One broke several box office records in India. Generally, there were higher occupancy levels for the 3D version of the film than the 2D version. Families and children comprised the majority of Ra.One's audience. The maximum revenue for the film come from West Bengal, Tamil Nadu/Kerala and Mysore. At the end of its theatrical run in India, the film netted ₹114.78 crore (US$14 million), becoming the fifth highest-grossing Bollywood film at that time.

On its first day, Ra.One opened at 70–100% cinema occupancy levels throughout India. The lower-than-expected occupancy level was mainly due to Diwali festivities which affected evening shows; the morning opening was described as "historic" by several trade analysts. The film then set the record for biggest Diwali opening day, out-grossing the previous record of Golmaal 3. Ra.One set the record for biggest single-day revenue of a film on its second day, beating Bodyguard's previous first-day record. The film subsequently broke the record for the biggest three-day opening weekend, again previously held by Bodyguard. The five-day extended weekend of Ra.One came second to the previous extended weekend record held by Bodyguard.

Subsequently, the film's box office collections began to suffer considerable drops in collections; drops were visible even in its first extended weekend. The first week and first nine-day extended week of Ra.One ended up ranking second to Bodyguard by a considerable margin. On its second weekend, Ra.One suffered a drop of 80% from its first (three-day) weekend. At the end of its second week, Ra.One declined by 83% compared to its first (seven-day) week; the collections were boosted due to "Eid" falling within the second week. The drop is put into further context by the fact that while Ra.One's first week was the second-highest at that time, its second week was ranked 24th.

After its second week, Ra.One failed to collect in a considerable manner. In its third week, the release of Rockstar resulted in a major screening space loss for Ra.One, and hence collections dropped by 90% compared to the second week. Ra.One continued to collect at the theaters, but after the third week the collections dipped to well below the ₹1 crore (US$120,000) mark. The distributor share from the Hindi version of Ra.One came to ₹63.61 crore (US$7.6 million), which was the third-highest distributor share for a Bollywood film released in 2011, after Bodyguard and Ready.

Dubbed versions

On its first day, Ra.One collected ₹2 crore (US$240,000) from the Tamil and Telugu versions. At the end of the three-day weekend, the dubbed versions had collected a total net of ₹4.5 crore (US$540,000). The Tamil and Telugu versions collected ₹6 crore (US$720,000) in its first extended week, showing large drops throughout.

Overseas

Note: In this section, $ refers to US$ in all places.

The overseas release of Ra.One spread across two phases, with most major markets covered in the first phase. Some markets involved a five-day weekend, similar to India, while other markets had a normal three-day weekend. Through its first three days overseas, Ra.One earned $3.8 million, making it the fifth-biggest three-day debut at that time, and the highest debut of 2011 (subsequently, Don 2 passed Ra.One on both counts). On its complete opening weekend, Ra.One debuted to $6.75 million overseas, which was the fourth biggest for a Bollywood film. With this, Ra.One had a worldwide debut of ₹90.04 crore (US$11 million), which set the record for the biggest worldwide box office debut of a Bollywood film, and the biggest worldwide debut of 2011.

In its opening weekend, the film collected US$1,654,023 in US, £908,768 in the UK, $250,000 in Pakistan, $349,899 in Australia, $1,509,624 in UAE, $91,135 in New Zealand and $40,658 in Fiji. In addition, the film saw strong openings in Singapore and other East Asian countries. As of its second week, Ra.One had earned around $8.25 million overseas, and became the highest-grossing Bollywood film overseas in 2011 (subsequently, Khan's other release of 2011 Don 2 surpassed this total). In 3 weeks, Ra.One collected $8.6 million, making it the fifth highest-grossing film ever in the overseas market. As of November 24, 2011, Eros International stated that the film made more than $10 million in the overseas market.

Commercial analysis

Ra.One generated curiosity among the public and distributors since the announcement of Akon's involvement with the film's soundtrack. The film received media attention due to the early launch of the film's publicity campaign. After the first trailer was released, some analysts predicted that Ra.One would not succeed at the box office due to its use of technology and action, a reportedly unique script and an urban feel suggesting that Ra.One would be a "class" phenomenon, not percolating down to the "masses". Contrarily, other analysts were positive about the film. Image guru Dilip Cherian said "SRK is building the film as a franchise much as Hollywood studios do. It's like bludgeoning the market into submission." Consequently, audience expectations built up to a very high level. The film's visual effects generated much curiosity among moviegoers, film distributors and critics, and had been called "the best India has ever seen [and] on par with Hollywood". Ra.One set records for levels of public awareness of the film and audience anticipation six weeks before its release; these levels remained high until the release date.

A few days prior to the film's release, a number of analysts predicted very high box office revenues for Ra.One due to a number of theatrical factors, based on advance booking trends. Sunil Punjabi, the CEO of the multiplex chain Cinemax, pointed out that the film had witnessed a large number of bulk bookings several days prior to the release; Box Office India commented that corporate bookings at major centers was "like never before". A number of schools requested special shows of the film around the period of Children's Day. Due to the hype surrounding the film, ticket prices surged; the non-competitive release date slot and wide extent of release further boosted advance theatrical revenues. The 3D release of the film was also an avenue of higher ticket prices. Trade analyst Amod Mehra commented on Khan's international popularity, which would assure high overseas theatrical revenue. However, it was noted that to recoup its investment, the film would need to run for an extensive period in theaters, unlike the short-lived films Bodyguard or Singham.

"Wherever you go, be it a mall or be it a hospital, you are bound to find one certain G.One smiling at you with enticing blue eyes. This fierce promotional drive is getting on the audiences' nerves now and has the potential of killing the enthusiasm of movie goers."

—Rohit Vats, CNN IBN, on the strategy of marketing used in Ra.One

The extensive promotional campaign, however, invoked strong reactions from viewers and box office trackers; there was speculation that the over-marketing would backfire. The omnipresence of Ra.One popularised a series of internet and SMS jokes, several of them targeting the film's publicity campaign and post-release, the film itself. Khan was unconcerned by the popularity of these jokes, saying, "Some people have devoted their lives to writing about how Ra.One is not a good film. But I am glad, since people are discussing it, it pretty much shows how the film hasn't been ignored." The style of the film's marketing was attributed to Khan's personal ambition to regain the "top slot". Outlook India said; " ... Ra.One is Shahrukh Khan's biggest gamble yet. The superhero genre, the mind-boggling budget, the marketing blitzkrieg, the brand value, the superstardom, Shahrukh has staked it all on the movie."

Concerns were raised regarding the risks of the film. The superhero genre was untested by Khan; Khan's earlier success was predominantly based on romantic roles with notable exceptions such as Swades (2004) and Chak De! India (2007). Khan's role as a superhero was unfamiliar to his fans, who recognised him with his "arched brows, deep dimples, perennially outstretched arms and a sarcastic half-smile." Filmmaker Paromita Vohra, a fan of Khan, commented "Will the superhero have traces of the SRK [Khan] I love or not?" Author Supriya Mandangarli noted that "the SRK persona has not been so much about aggressive masculinity as about nostalgia, the reason why Ra.One seems a big risk."

Post release, Ra.One received a lukewarm audience reception. Opinions on the film varied widely; user ratings ranged from 1.5 to 4.5 stars out of 5. While audiences unanimously praised the visual effects and technical aspects of the film, many were left feeling the need of a better and more original script. Children and teenagers unanimously loved the movie; however, adults were critical of it. Comparisons with other science-fiction films also affected Ra.One. Vats commented, "Ra.One banked upon mammoth promotional drive in order to pull the audiences to the theatres and therefore mixed reviews actually have brought down the fever a bit. The focus on technical fineness has made Ra.One an experience worth watching but the hype around the film has begun to fizz away."

Went to see Ra.One with no expectations. Was stopped by random people at Inox, discouraging us. Including a charming old lady.

—Pritish Nandy's tweet about the planned negativity factor, when he went to watch the film.

Industry people pointed out problems in Ra.One. Noted film producer Pritish Nandy said, "I'm no fan of SRK but I must say, even if it disappoints you all, I enjoyed Ra.One. ... The problem with [it] is that it does not connect with SRK's own fan base. They were cursing the film and walking out." Pookutty said that "The problem with Ra.One is the problem of Bollywood. Lack of planning. Personally I feel it could have been edited at least 45 per cent." The film failed to meet the very high expectations, and thus negativity about the film spread. A member of the film's production unit commented, "The attention was now diverted to speculating the figures, hinting at the figures not being true. It has now come to point of being nasty." Khan was upset with the negative word-of-mouth about the film which he said was "a clever marketing strategy to undercut the film when it was going on at full-steam in the theatres." Nandy reported about "random people coming up to the audience and asking them to go back rather than watch the film" in several multiplexes across Mumbai.

Accolades

Main article: List of accolades received by Ra.One

Ra.One received numerous nominations and awards in India and abroad. Most of these were for the technical aspects of the film, such as visual effects, cinematography, sound design and action sequences. The film won both the National Film Award and the Filmfare Award for Best Special Effects, three Star Screen Awards and six Zee Cine Awards. Ra.One also received several marketing and business awards for its promotions, distribution and music. On the other hand, the film received negative ("dishonorable") awards as well, primarily for the film itself. Ra.One won the titles of Worst Film and Worst Director at the Golden Kela Awards, and also won the Worst Film title at the Ghanta Awards.

Despite the film's mixed reception, critics and industry experts were unanimously positive towards the film's visual effects and other technical aspects. Merzin Tavaria praised the visual effects, saying, "Indian filmmakers are going to take Ra.One as a case study and make their upcoming VFX and 3D films in the same fashion." Gaurav Gupta, CEO of FutureWorks, applauded the quality of visual effects and lauded Shahrukh Khan's risk, saying, "Ra.One’s visual effects style and execution are refined and dynamic. The blending of various VFX techniques, especially the compositing, is some of the best we have seen in Indian cinema so far." Vamsi Ayyagiri was also appreciative of the technical aspects, commenting: "Ra.One is a testimony to the passion of the artists and efforts of its creators." Director Karan Johar and actor Hrithik Roshan were extremely positive about the film's visual effects; additionally, international director Shekhar Kapur praised the effects in the film's trailers.

Sequel

Prior to the release of Ra.One, reports surfaced that Khan was planning to produce a sequel to the film. Khan commented, "There should be a sequel; that's the tendency of all superhero films." Khan did admit that it was "presumptuous" to start the sequel before the first film's release, but he stated that he would do the sequel "faster, bigger and better" than Ra.One. However, several days after release, the rumors were refuted by Khan who said that a sequel was "unlikely" due to a busy schedule with other film projects. Subsequently, after Ra.One won a National Award, Khan was reported to have been overjoyed and stated that the film's world could be explored more. He stated that the sequel, if made, would be titled G.One and not Ra.Two. Khan was reported to be looking for a script to take the film forward, with no fixed deadline given due to the long film-making process. Khan commented, "A film like this requires a year-and-a-half of pre-production, so it's impossible for me to give you a time frame. I'm unsure if it'll even get made or if I'll use the technology in some other genre [...] I know it is going to be expensive, but perhaps the next film would be cheaper since I now have the technology." Mushtaq Sheikh, a close friend of Khan, confirmed the sequel and said that work on the film involving basic pre-production had begun. Multiple reports stated that Kapoor would not be a part of the sequel due to a variety of reasons.

External links

• Official website
• Ra.One at IMDb
• Ra.One at Box Office Mojo
• Ra.One at Bollywood Hungama
• Ra.One at Rotten Tomatoes
• Ra.One at Metacritic
• Ra.One at AllMovie