Ra.One (Hindi: रा.वन) is an upcoming 2011 Hindi Superhero film directed by Anubhav Sinha, and starring Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal in the lead roles. It also stars Shahana Goswami, Dilip Tahil and Chinese-American actor Tom Wu in supporting roles.
The film is jointly produced under Khan's production company Red Chillies Entertainment and Eros International,and was originally scheduled to release in the summer of 2011. However, due to extensive post-production work involving special effects and its 3D conversion, the film was pushed back and is now set to release worldwide during the Diwali weekend of October 26, 2011. Ra.One is currently India's most expensive film to date and will be released in both 2D and 3D formats across 3,200 screens in India, along with its dubbed versions in Tamil, Teluguand German.
Production
Development
According to director Anubhav Sinha, the idea of making Ra.One originated while he was watching television six years ago. Sinha wrote the script and gave it to Shahrukh Khan who then agreed to both produce and star in it. The film has been in the making for over four years. He explains, "We invested as many as two years into the pre-production of the film, the actual filming was spread through one full year and then the post-production has been a year-long process as well". To prepare for the film, Sinha spent months going through video clips, digital art portals and comic books, and also enrolled with a special effects class to learn the new techniques that would be used in the film.
The film's crew comprises of more than 5,000 members from India, Italy and the US. Special effects creator Robert Kurtzman was assigned to design the suits of Khan and Rampal's characters. Nicola Pecorini was roped in as the director of photography, with V. Manikandanproviding extra assistance, and Martin Walsh was responsible to edit the film. Sound designer Resul Pookutty was roped in to enhance the sound effects with the use of the Dolby Surround 7.1 system. In an interview, Pookutty explained, "You see, 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."
Due to the revived interest in 3D technology in India, brought in by the success of Haunted – 3D (2011), the makers of the film announced that they were contemplating on turning portions of the movie into 3D. Khan revealed, "Some part of the film we are trying to do in 3D and Prime Focus is doing that for us. They have a technology with which after you have shot the film, it could be converted into 3D. But there are reservations on it because you know that we have to shoot that with different cameras...the same trailer, actually in a matter of fact, we are going to check out in few days and if it comes out well, then parts of the film I would like to do in 3D". In July 2011, it was announced that the entire film would be converted into 3D, a process that required the collaboration of several individuals.
There are close to 3,500 VFX shots in Ra.One, including 800 shots involving G.One's suit alone, which takes up 40 minutes of footage. While Khan shot the film wearing a simple suit for his character, a good deal of sparkle and polishing was added to it later to enhance its look. The film was also pieced together by more than 1,000 people, working in shifts, in around 15 studios across the world, including in Mumbai, South India, London, Canada and Massachusetts. The idea of making a VFX-loaded film took root when Khan was working on his 2004 release, Main Hoon Na. "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," explains Keitan Yadav, COO and VFX Producer at Red Chillies Entertainment.
Reports of similarities between Ra.One and the 2010 Tamil release Enthiran have been surfacing since the former entered principal photography. When asked about the comparisons, Khan noted "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."
As a way to make his character more believable, Khan decided that he would perform his own stunts in the film. In 2010, Kareena Kapoor was signed on to play the female lead whilst Arjun Rampal was later approached for his role of a villain. During an appearance on the chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Khan stated that Jackie Chan was "approached for a role in the film". Khan had reportedly sent Chan the detailed script of the film, along with the action sequences and a brief synopsis of his character; it was later confirmed that Chan would not be part of the project.In July 2010, Khan announced that Chinese-American actor Tom Wu would be part of the film. Actors Sanjay Duttand Priyanka Chopra were confirmed to make cameos.
Ra.One's shooting was originally supposed to begin in Miami, USA, but due to budget concerns this was scrapped The first phase of filming began in India in March 2010 and continued till May in Mumbai's Film City and Goa. While filming, Khan admitted to finding difficulties with the rubber-made costume that was specially designed for his character, later commenting: "The costume was designed in a way that I had to take the help of girls to get into it and vice-versa. I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink much in between the shoots [...] By the time, the shooting of the film was wrapped up; I ended up losing ten kilos." Production of the film's second and third phase occurred with the entire cast in London, and ended in August, which included a heavy duty action scene involving Khan and Kapoor. During this period, a picture of Kapoor's character was also revealed to the media. The film's final phase commenced at Filmistan Studio in December 2010 and was shot over seven days. The remaining portions were shot in Mumbai and completed in July 2011. While shooting for the film in Mumbai, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited Yash Raj Studios, to watch Khan at work. In order to celebrate the film's completion, a wrap-up party was held at the end of the month in Mumbai.
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