'Ra. One' is not satisfied with a skilled execution of a water thin plot premise. It has to add some songs, some masala moments, a novelty factor and some scintillating visual effects to add up. And it does add them. Which is good because there's so much to enjoy here. But all of it comes startlingly down because the worst performance in the film is delivered by its otherwise nuanced star- yes, I am talking about Shahrukh Khan. Kareena Kapoor delivers much better with her emotional coherence. Director Anubhav Sinha is too indulgent in the craft, and that's to a measure so drastically up that writer Kanika Dhillon, at that point, doesn't even know what to do now with the characters. So she deeply delves into pointlessness and borrows from Disney and Marvel's graphic characters and ends up adding eighties-level heft to the basic plot. That's what makes it 'Ra. One' a holy mess- serviceable, bearable even- but not overtly enjoyable.

great concept,actions,vfx spoiled by poor screenplay n direction

That V stands for villain, vicious, violent, virtual and victorious. Almost victorious till he is destroyed and dies (presumably). Well, it is a welcome move to name the movie after a villain. There are fewer earlier movies like Jewel Thief , Don , Ghajini but this is the first time Bollywood has a digital or virtual villain that is a delight as well as sinister character to watch. Curiously RAM (Arjun RAMpal) plays Ravan and adds monstrosity in a brief role. The movie has a simplistic storyline – win of good over evil. But when digital effects and graphics are added to it, it gives an awe-inspiring feeling. And watching in 3D is out-of-the-world experience. If the movie is taken as a video game too, it is definitely the next level. We don’t need to compare it with Hollywood, where Indian and Chinese technicians work among others. The same technology does wonders in India among Indians. We have the brains and the result is amazing. Just like US call centers, soon we will have Hollywood studios setting up offices in India. After all cutting costs matter. The super hero is totally Indian. He neither wears a hood, goggles or underwear unlike the Hollywoodies. He is truly Bollywood original. For Hollywood superhero, he saves the world or cities. In Bollywood, the superhero’s world centres on his family so he saves his family members. All Indian movies have heroes, who are SUPER. In Hollywood, he is taken as a super-human entity.

Shekhar Subramaniam (SRK) along with his wife Sonia (Kareena Kapoor) and son Prateek (Armaan Verma) lives in London. He is a video game developer. While Prateek expects Shekhar to be a superhero, he is no where near it. Prateek also loves villains. To win over his son, Shekhar with the help of his colleagues (Tom Wu and Shahana Goswami) creates a digital/virtual villain Ra.One (reminds you of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein , 1818), who can be played online in a deadly encounter. Prateek plays the game but leaves it mid-way. Ra.One advises him against it but Prateek goes off. Ra.One in a fit of anger, assumes human form. He must track Prateek and kill him as he has dared to defeat him. In the process, he kills Wu, Wu’s mother, Shekhar and even Dalip Tahil (gaming company boss). But Hindi movies cannot exist without a hero so G.One (SRK again in a digital clone-Jivan, GONE, etc) is given birth to counter Ra.One and to protect Prateek and Sonia. Now the location shifts to India. Now it is up to G.One to save his world (read family here). And this is the marvellous point in the movie. Ra.One has finally emerged as a humanoid (Rampal, finally) and he fights a battle to the finish. He is dangerous, deadly and dynamite. He will stop at nothing to extract his revenge. He even takes Ravanous 10 forms but tragically his ‘shadow’ gives him away. The villain must be vanquished and so he is. Farishtey bhi hote hain lives on. But ravan kabhi nahin marta (despite yearly jalana ). So you can expect a sequel with G.One brought back to ‘life'.