Its Shahrukh Khan Who Made Ra.One Possible – Anubhav Sinha

Shah Rukh Khan isn’t quite known for coming out of his comfort zone too often. Content with working with his favourite set of people that have ranged from Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra, (earlier) Farah Khan and (now) Farhan Akhtar, Shah Rukh has seldom given a go-ahead to any director outside his camp. However, when he brought Anubhav Sinha on board for Ra.One, he gave him all the luxuries and support to make the dream project. And that when the film was not just touted to be the biggest Indian film ever being made but also the costliest.

“Without Shah Rukh’s conviction, this film wouldn’t have happened”, says Anubhav who is now counting the number of days left as Ra.One paces towards its Diwali release, “I had heard that he treats his directors as a kid. With Ra.One I saw it first hand. He is magnanimous to the core. If I asked for say, two people to join the crew, he would give me eight. If I wanted a set to look bigger, he would make it the biggest ever that I would have seen.”

This is not all as Shah Rukh himself is taking active interest in making his Ra.One, which is rumoured to be costing over 175 crores, stand out amidst the crowd. This means that he has kept his promotional and marketing strategy operational right from the IPL days itself. Post that he has been releasing snippets and teasers about his superhero film at regular intervals.

“Yes, Shah Rukh is working on the film day and night and that’s when his Don 2 is up for release as well”, says Anubhav, “Last I heard, he was heads-on into closing merchandising plans for the film. The man is phenomenal. And frankly, the only flipside that I have seen of working with Shah Rukh is that he truly spoils you. I just hope that I continue to get similar treatment from other producers as well in my other films.”

When it comes to his dream project though, Anubhav truly believes that it is making a healthy progress for sure. With a mere two months to go for the film’s arrival on the big screen, he is feeling triumphant about the journey that Shah Rukh and he undertook for the making of this film.

“Frankly, making Ra.One has been akin to climbing Mt. Everest”, he says with a sign of relief, “Of course when you reach the peak of it, you experience something which is totally breathtaking. You feel triumphant, breathless, tired and little scattered as well. But then it is all worth it because it is a journey of climbing that matters. And then all of it seems like just worth it because the view down below is so nice. All that you want at this point is to have others join in your happiness as well and look at what you have accomplished.”

Well Anubhav, we would join you for sure on 26th October once the film finds a global release for itself. Source

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Ra.One Is Less Than 100 Days Away From Its Release

Countdown has begun for Shahrukh Khan’s RA.ONE. Less than 100 days remain for the Diwali release of the film and momentum is expected to gain with every passing week as the film starts unveiling many more promotional tools that it currently has in its kitty. Meanwhile the film’s director RA.ONE already believes that he has a biggie in hand. This belief comes from the confidence that he has gained after spending over six years of his life into making this multi-crore VFX laden superhero film.
“As is the known fact, deep inside every filmmaker knows how his product has eventually shaped up. There are seldom any surprises that he carries even though he may project an expression of disbelief on the success or failure of his film,” says Anubhav.
This confession coming from a man who has helmed a project as huge as RA.ONE (which is rumoured to be carrying a 175 crores budget) is surprising since most in his place would have wanted to keep a defensive stance.
“After working day in and night out for RA.ONE, I have come to realise what had happened after the success of DUS. It is as simple as that - I had got carried away by appreciating form more than content,” admits Anubhav, “All my concentration was on getting the technique right and in the process of doing that, I wasn’t concentrating as much on my story telling.”
For someone who had incidentally made his debut with a sensitive and an unassuming small time film TUM BIN, this was nothing less than a wakeup call.
“I kicked myself and started remembering the times when I had started off with a film like TUM BIN which was about relationships rather than style. I started missing the love that I had got for my story and not the way I placed my camera. I said to myself that ‘Hello, what are you up to? Where have your basics disappeared?’ Today if I am positive about RA.ONE that is because I know about the areas where I had failed earlier and how I have improved upon them,” says Anubhav. Source
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Shahrukh Khan’s Ra.One Is 150 Minutes Long?

Bigger the star, bigger the expectation. Bigger the expectation, bigger the scale. And bigger the scale, larger the duration. This is what Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One promises when it gets ready to arrive this Diwali. To justify hundreds of crores that have been pumped into the making of this Anubhav Singh directed film, the running length of Ra. One too would be good enough to give audience a complete ‘paisa vasool’ experience.
“Though the current trend is to make films last not more than two hours, Ra.One would be an exception. It would be a two and a half hour spectacle as Shah Rukh as well as Anubhav believe that there is a lot to be told, something that the audience should not be deprived of, especially since expectations have been sky high”, says a source attached to the film.
The only other film in the recent times which has actually clocked 150 minutes is Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and it has turned out to a good success. Even Singham is much longer than two hours and audience don’t seem to mind those extra minutes presenting an overdose of action. On the other hand, one of the bigger hits in last few weeks, Delhi Belly, has been the shortest of them all by clocking under 100 minutes.
“At the end of the day, it is also about the kind of genre that you are exploring”, an editor remarks in defence of the Shah Rukh Khan starrer. “Ra.One is the first ever sci-fi film of this scale and setting to have been made in Bollywood. Shah Rukh has pumped over Rs. 150 crores in this film and is still counting. It makes sense to present to audience everything which is special about a new world that has been created here. Even Avatar had lasted 162 minutes.”
Shot for over 125 days, it was only this Monday that Ra.One came to a close with its final schedule lasting for 10 days. While the film was being edited simultaneously over last few months, now comes the challenge of putting everything together in one place and make it a seamless movie watching experience.
“There is so much to be told in Ra.One”, admits Anubhav, “However both Shah Rukh and I are of the opinion that we should be keeping the film’s length under 150 minutes. Of course it’s a struggle to do that but at the end of the day, it’s the film that will dictate its duration rather than vice versa. Now that the film’s shoot is complete, we should know within next fortnight how the theatrical cut will look like.”
Given the fact that we didn’t mind Rajinikanth’s antics that lasted for three hours in Robot, there is no reason why Shah Rukh won’t hold our interest for those two and a half hours. Source
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Ra.One To Be Launched As A PlayStation Game

Well, bollywood films can now be available as video games. Among its many firsts, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has partnered with Bollywood blockbuster franchise to create a PlayStation game on the movie - RA.ONE starring Shahrukh Khan. The video game version of the movie will be called ‘RA.ONE - The Game’ and has been developed exclusively on key PlayStation platforms of PS2 and PS3 (through PSN download).
The game is being developed under active supervision of game development team of SCEE based out of London, UK. The game will almost act as a prequel to the movie to introduce the key film characters and the various super-powers they have in the film. The game storyline has been developed by Shah Rukh Khan so that there is an intrinsic connection between the game and the movie.
Atindriya Bose, Country Manager - PlayStation said, ‘We have always wanted to bring Bollywood IPs on PlayStation platform as the way of connecting to Indian audience. RA.ONE has the right mix of action, environment and imagination that is required to make a good PlayStation game, and with Shah Rukh Khan immense passion and understanding of PlayStation games, we have chanced upon a very unique opportunity of a great game with Indian IP.’
The game provides an opportunity to the players to play as the key characters of the film: Ra.One or G.One. Beyond these two characters, a few other key characters will also be included in the game. The film characters have been replicated closely for looks and animation and use the actual voice-overs from Shah Rukh Khan. Source
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Will Shahrukh Khan’s Ra.One Live Up To The Expectations?

Time passes very fast and you won’t even believe that ‘Ra. One’ is just about 100 days away from release, one wonders whether Anubhav Sinha, the film’s director, is scared of all the expectations from the Shahrukh Khan starrer.
“Why should I be scared? And frankly, I don’t really care about what others have to say. You tell me, would the film have managed such curiosity even a year before it’s release? This is the reason why I keep telling the younger film makers that every opportunity has a potential pitfall but one should not be scared about picking it up on way”, philosophises Anubhav.
“Well, I am aware of all the ‘if-s’ coming my way and more than happy to be grilled and face all volleys with my chin up”, smiles Anubhav before proceeding with yet another hectic month ahead that would be occupied with VFX supervision. Source
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Is Shahrukh Teasing Hrithik & Rakesh Roshan With His Ra.One Special Screening?

Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan, for the first time would organise a special screening of his forthcoming superhero film ‘Ra.one’ for actor Hrithik Roshan and his filmmaker father Rakesh Roshan.
“What we have heard is that Hrithik has already seen rushes of the film and he is quite impressed. But Shahrukh wants to show him the final cut, complete with sound effects and the jazz. In fact, that will be the first screening of the film for his own family,” sources close to SRK said.
Shahrukh recently had said that Roshan’s film, ‘Krrish’, was India’s best super-hero film.
“My children love the film and they think that Hrithik is the best super-hero. I too love it and I want him to see my film and give his feedback,” ‘King’ Khan said.
“Rakesh Roshan is the most planned director I have worked with. He plans everything before he starts shooting, which is fabulous.”
“There is no confusion when we are shooting. Hrithik is like him, he likes to plan things before he starts shooting. I want them both to see Ra.One soon. It may help them in planning Krrish 3,” Shahrukh added.  Source
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All Credit For Ra.One Goes To Shahrukh Khan?

It would be still too early to say that the countdown has begun for RA.ONE. However the way film is already in news in a big way, one can be rest assured that by the time it would be just 50 days away from the release, RA.ONE would be the most talked about film of the year. Another fact that cannot be ignored is that if RA.ONE is a success, there would be talks of how Shahrukh Khan master minded it all. And if it fails, Anubhav can well be expected to turn into the scapegoat. One wonders whether this would be too disheartening for the film-maker here?
“But isn’t that the way film making should always work? I would rather believe that if film is a success then it is a team effort and if it isn’t a success then it is my failure I don’t know about other directors but I have always believed in it. And mind you, I am not saying this just for RA.ONE; I would have said the same for my earlier films as well,” Anubhav keeps it light here.
One waits to see whether Anubhav maintains this statement after the release of the film as well. Reason being that after quite some time that was spent in the actual shoot of the film, there is extensive effort on the post production of RA.ONE as well. With a huge budget (in the vicinity of 150 crores) and the biggest superstar in hand, isn’t it agonizing for Anubhav to wait for his film to be made frame by frame for next so many months before it actually hits the screens? Isn’t anxiety setting in for him already?
“No, I am not anxious at all because I know what I am striving to do here and what’s the magnitude of this creation,” says Anubhav with a straight face, “I am well aware that something like RA.ONE can’t be made in anything lesser, be it money or patience. I have been a part of the industry for a couple of decades now; a few more months is nothing to wait for your creation to unfold on the big screen.”
With Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal playing the other principal roles, RA.ONE releases all over on 26th October. Source
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Shahrukh Khan Matches Hollywood Standards With Ra.One

King Khan Shah Rukh Khan has done it again. The smart B-town super star known for his marketing techniques this time has got the entire industry taken by a pleasant surprise. On January he came with a full page ad in a leading newspaper announcing his arrival on Diwali with ‘Ra.One’.
While most of the films do hardcore promotions only a few weeks from the release date, Shah Rukh Khan planned his moves of his upcoming promised blockbuster ‘Ra.One’ since January.
Four months before the release of the movie Shah Rukh Khan is doing things that the industry and the audience alike have never witnessed yet. SRK unveiled a one minute theatrical teaser last week and the promo is in high demand by all major cinema owners who want to play it all around.
Needless to add, the promo has sparked great expectations and everyone wants October to come faster.
Heavily loaded by special effects ‘Ra.One’ can easily be mistaken to be a Hollywood big sci-fi flick. Definitely King Khan Shahrukh has set the trend and with the promotions just started we can only say that ‘picture abhi baki hai mere dost’ (there’s lots more to come my friend) and it can only go more bigger and better.
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