New Delhi: With a monopoly this year over the festive market, Shah Rukh Khan's 'RA.One' ushered in Diwali all across India with the traditional triumph of the good forces over evil as the country prepared for an evening of fireworks and feasting.
Early shows at cinemas has kids jostling for their pair of 3D glasses as they queued up for India's first ever mega science fiction film that borrows technique from Hollywood. The film is emblematic of a genre of advanced gaming and the effect it has on children.
'RA.One', a crucial film in the middle-aged actor's career, will test both his staying power in the industry and also the reception in the Indian market of films high on graphics and special effects.
The last such experience was that of Rajinikanth's 'Enthiran' that had the mega star playing Chitti the robot. Incidentally Rajini appears for a brief cameo in the film reprising his hit magnet trick from the southern blockbuster.
Khan saw to it that there is no dearth of hype around the movie. The exhausting promotions, multi-city tours, extensive tweeting, guest appearances on major prime time television shows have all led up to this moment. His magnum opus hit 3500 screens across the globe on Diwali.
Made at an ambitious budget of Rs 150 crore ($30 million) 'RA.One' is the second most expensive film in the history of the industry after Rajinikanth's Enthiran (Rs 190 crore). Until 'RA.One', Akshay Kumar's 'Blue' was considered the second most expensive film made on a budget of Rs 129 crore.
Let it not be said that Khan has left a single stone unturned for Bollywood's largest original science fiction. The promotions alone cost Rs 50 crore. Shah Rukh Khan plays G.One (pun on the word Jeevan), a nerdy software engineer with a hot wife (played by Kareena Kapoor).
'RA.One' continues a trend initiated by Krrish and Enthiran. Superhero flicks are relatively new to Indian cinemaspace. It remains to be seen if audiences are receptive to the mega-film that boasts of world class VFX and graphics. RA.One is being billed as a technological masterpiece and is dubbed into Telugu, Tamil and German as well.
On a day the South will see the two mega releases of '7 Aam Arivu' and 'Velayudham', Khan has made sure his 'RA.One' is well ahead in the race for the Box Office top slot with a brilliant casting coup. Southern megastar Rajinikanth plays a cameo in the film, cementing the support of millions of his fans.
The other two Diwali releases, Damadamm, starring Himesh Reshamiya and Tell Me O Kkhuda starring Esha Deol in the lead are a distant second to 'RA.One' as Khan left for an exhausting premiere tour at Dubai, London and Toronto.
Arjun Rampal plays the title role of 'RA.One', an anti-hero out to destroy humanity in the film directed by Anubhav Sinha. Khan's movie will enter the non-traditional markets of South Korea and Hong Kong. On 500 screens, it will be in the 3D format.
Giant leap for Bollywood technology
'RA.One' reportedly has 3,500 VFX shots and SRK collaborated with Jeffrey Kleiser, co-founder of US-based Synthesian Studios, to supervise the work done by the Indian film star's RedchilliesVFX team.
The film is being released in more than 3,000 screens in the domestic market in 2D and around 500 screens in 3D. Sinha and Khan watched as many as 200 superhero films in multiple languages from all over the world before making 'RA.One'.
Khan has roped in Oscar winner Resul Pookutty for the special sound effects. The team went to Los Angeles get the sound effects done for the film. Jeff Kleiser of 1994 Hollywood film "Stargate" was hired as the supervisor of visual effects.
Nicola Pecorini of 'Loathing in Las Vegas' fame is the director of photography, while the film is edited by Academy-award winner Martin Walsh.
It has 3,500 VFX shots, which could mark a new beginning for the use of the technology in Indian films. The task of adding special effects was outsourced to multiple specialty studios including in London, Paris and Bangkok, as also in the US. Dolby surround 7.1 system has been installed in several multiplexes in the run-up to the sci-fi's release.
Chinese actor Jackie Chan was reportedly approached for a role in the film and later Chinese-American actor Tom Wu was signed on to be a part of the film. The G.One suit that Khan wears in the film is made of silicon, styrofoam and rubber and is said to be considerably heavy. SRK said he lost 5 kgs after shooting in the superhero suit.
Khan had to don prosthetic make up for 8 to 10 hours a day without a break which made it difficult for him to even eat and drink.
The most promoted film ever?
The event's telecast rights are believed to have been sold to the TV channel for a Rs 10 crore. Satellite rights of the film have reportedly been sold for Rs 35 crore, while distribution rights have been sold for Rs 77 crore.
The first trailer was aired during the World Cup and later came tie-ups with Champions League T20, UTV Indiagames for online games and iPhone/iPad application for fans, Sony Playstation for video games, Google Plus and Seventymm, a leading DVD rental company for merchandising, as well as with Homeshop18 to sell superhero film merchandise and Youtube.
The G.One online store is selling merchandise related to the film. In past one month, the film's promotion saw an all time high with Shah Rukh's eight-city tour to create awareness about it, his back-to-back appearances on the finales of reality shows "India's Got Talent", "Just Dance" and "Sa Re Ga Ma Li'l Champs" as well as occupying the hot seat on "Kaun Banega Crorepati".
Now all eyes are on the box office collection of the movie and trade pundits say it will have to gross Rs 200 crore to break even.
(With additional information from agencies)
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