RANDOM ACCESS 1.0 - What is it that this ONE RANDOM VIEWER got to say about it?
Well, to describe it in ONE PHRASE, it is a Geek Movie - And no matter how much SRK tries to ground it by his P.Js. [Bruce Lee ki teen betiyaan - Iski Lee, Uski Lee, Sabki Lee :-)] and no matter how much KRK tries to spice it up by her curses [Pau ka puda??, Tau ka Poda?? :-)], it still remains a geek movie at large!!
While personally I liked this movie, before we get into the parts I liked, let's discuss it's shortcomings.
As I see it, RA.ONE has VICE.ONE, FLAW.ONE, MALFUNCTION.ONE, GOOF-UP.ONE and a PILE-UP.ONE.
The ONE VICE it has is it's length!! I mean c'mon - 160 minutes!! Really??
In the age where we are seeing a lot of Bollywood movies of shorter or rather optimum lengths - SRK should have given a serious thought to whether he really needs such a loooooooong film.
Even before the last fight, I could hear the kids sitting here and there shouting, "When are we going home??" and that was a feeling developed more or less in minds of many others sitting in the cinema hall - and I can tell what made them impatient, what made me impatient!!
It was the PILE-UP of the "KRK in Unstoppable Train" sequence on the entire plot of movie. Think of it - Was the entire train related sequence really necessary?? It was ONE PILE-UP that tested my patience as an audience. I mean agreed that the most brilliant of the nerds in special effects department came up with the falling building scene - but then, it could have come handy in RA.TWO as well. It looked to me as if the script was made to swell just to showcase that one special effect achieved!!
Moving on, while bringing Chitti on-board got maximum whistles from audience, it also introduced us to a digital tracker which beeped on Chitti's radar saying RA.ONE identified and which beeped on RA.ONE's radar saying Chitti identified. So, what happens when suddenly the Chhammak-Chhallo is taken over by RA.ONE?? Is G.ONE so busy in dancing that he does an oversight error of not sensing RA.ONE in disguise OR was it just ONE MALFUNCTION of the beeper system?? Whatever it was, it is the basis which later leads to the whole 'Stop the train, Save the girl' sequence and that is more of a reason why I didn't like this malfunction.
And what is the ONE GOOF-UP that this movie has?? Well, agree that RA.ONE is made up by combining the thought processes of ten different villains, but his making only started after the thought process of having a villain which cannot be defeated was already over - how the hell would RA.ONE know and tell G.ONE during the last fight that the kid needed a villain which cannot be defeated, hence I am splitting into 10??
But then, this one goof-up - we can forgive, forget and digest for the sake of cinematic effect :-)
Well, to describe it in ONE PHRASE, it is a Geek Movie - And no matter how much SRK tries to ground it by his P.Js. [Bruce Lee ki teen betiyaan - Iski Lee, Uski Lee, Sabki Lee :-)] and no matter how much KRK tries to spice it up by her curses [Pau ka puda??, Tau ka Poda?? :-)], it still remains a geek movie at large!!
While personally I liked this movie, before we get into the parts I liked, let's discuss it's shortcomings.
As I see it, RA.ONE has VICE.ONE, FLAW.ONE, MALFUNCTION.ONE, GOOF-UP.ONE and a PILE-UP.ONE.
The ONE VICE it has is it's length!! I mean c'mon - 160 minutes!! Really??
In the age where we are seeing a lot of Bollywood movies of shorter or rather optimum lengths - SRK should have given a serious thought to whether he really needs such a loooooooong film.
Even before the last fight, I could hear the kids sitting here and there shouting, "When are we going home??" and that was a feeling developed more or less in minds of many others sitting in the cinema hall - and I can tell what made them impatient, what made me impatient!!
It was the PILE-UP of the "KRK in Unstoppable Train" sequence on the entire plot of movie. Think of it - Was the entire train related sequence really necessary?? It was ONE PILE-UP that tested my patience as an audience. I mean agreed that the most brilliant of the nerds in special effects department came up with the falling building scene - but then, it could have come handy in RA.TWO as well. It looked to me as if the script was made to swell just to showcase that one special effect achieved!!
Moving on, while bringing Chitti on-board got maximum whistles from audience, it also introduced us to a digital tracker which beeped on Chitti's radar saying RA.ONE identified and which beeped on RA.ONE's radar saying Chitti identified. So, what happens when suddenly the Chhammak-Chhallo is taken over by RA.ONE?? Is G.ONE so busy in dancing that he does an oversight error of not sensing RA.ONE in disguise OR was it just ONE MALFUNCTION of the beeper system?? Whatever it was, it is the basis which later leads to the whole 'Stop the train, Save the girl' sequence and that is more of a reason why I didn't like this malfunction.
And what is the ONE GOOF-UP that this movie has?? Well, agree that RA.ONE is made up by combining the thought processes of ten different villains, but his making only started after the thought process of having a villain which cannot be defeated was already over - how the hell would RA.ONE know and tell G.ONE during the last fight that the kid needed a villain which cannot be defeated, hence I am splitting into 10??
But then, this one goof-up - we can forgive, forget and digest for the sake of cinematic effect :-)
What I can't digest is the obvious flaw that the movie has - Probably one of the ten villains used to develop RA.ONE's logic was the Joker from the Dark Knight - so, he kidnapped the leading lady and the side-kick at the same time [sorry, but I do not think of the kid as protagonist, and I did not think of Harvey Dent as a protagonist either - from my point of view, he too was just a side-kick] and then gives a choice to our super-hero among them - but hello!! Isn't G.ONE a digital programme synced with a rubber suit??
Why would he ever make a choice between logical decision and emotional decision??
Hasn't it got to be all logical??
Or did I miss the frame where G.ONE has an emotional evolution after getting into the real world? [May be it was somewhere when G.ONE suddenly starts obeying commands of the MOM [Sarah Connor :-)] instead of confining himself to be of service to just the kid :-)] And to top it all, he makes the emotional choice - goes after the girl first instead of going after the boy!! Aaargh!!
More I think of it, more I realize that all the parts that I disliked in this movie are by ONE way or other related to same branched out sequence of the unstoppable train.
Let's stop thinking more about it and get on to what I liked about RA.ONE!!
So, we were all wondering about what would be the SRK Super-hero like? We already had a super-hero Krissh blessed by cosmic powers, and Drona blessed with magical powers and of-course our very own tele-hero Shaktiman created by vedic powers!!
That left a little space for innovation and for creating a super-hero which is different from all of them.
Kudos to the makers of RA.ONE [and of TRON + TRON LEGACY :P], team-SRK did it!! They came up with a super-hero which is created in a different way - and for the Indian audience which may not be so familiar with many Hollywood movies, it is a very innovative way as well!!
And yes, while the concept of digital and real worlds meeting is inspired from TRON, this is not a story of protagonist trapped into digital world, but the antagonist let loose in the real world. It's like the Reverse Bungee - while the basic playground is same - where people tie you to a rope and throw you, it is not upside down - but into the sky :D
Not to mention, SRK is fairly reasonable as a "superhero"!!
I mean, we have seen bollywood "heroes" beating up goons in the lot of dozens by a single stroke of their fist - by those standards, whatever SRK does being a superhero - seems natural. That is another reason we buy the G.ONE character as such.
And RA.ONE - it is.. oops, he is made up of many different villains for sure - Darth Vader in all his initial getup and digital styling, then the T-1000 Terminator which can take form of anyone and assemble from droplets, the Joker giving out his cunning choices and a Dark Jedi controlling minds of others, a Rogue 'kung-fu' Assassin, and many more!!
BTW, Did I mention about some of the brilliant dialogues that RA.AMPAL has delivered?? "Raavan ko har saal isliye maarte hai, kyunki wo kabhi nahi martaa!!" That's an interesting theory, isn't it?
KRK - the Bebo - is just good enough but I feel Kajol would have been just perfect for this role!! Somehow, I kept having the feeling that KRK is trying too hard to create the same magic which Kajol created in "Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum". Her curses and abuses are innovative though - and the Women's Liberation Fronts will embrace them with gratitude :-P
Talking again about the falling train station and other special effects in RA.ONE - they are brilliant for a bollywood flick!! I mean at least there are no cardboard cars and buildings being crushed to make the whole affair low cost!!
SRK has put all the necessary resources to get the desired effect out of the movie - and they work just fine for him and for the audience!!
The guest appearances in movie are awesome too!!
First in the guest list is of course - SUPERHERO.ONE - RAJNIKANTH. His Chitti gets so much applause, you have to be in a theater with at least half the audience being Tamil, to experience the charisma!!
Then there is BLONDIE.ONE - I mean, look at the body language, the sensuousness, the sexy and naive gestures of Priyanaka as she plays the Desi Girl in opening sequence - When we have hotties like Priyanka around, who needs any Blondies in Bollywood :-)
And how can we forget VILLIAN.ONE when we are talking about the opening sequence!! Even though he appears for only a short duration, Sanju Baba leaves an impression with his dialogues and his persona.
Talking about the supporting cast - It is a welcome break to see Satish Shah creating comedy around straight gestures of SRK, instead of falling for some gayish gestures which is slowly becoming the stereotype of Satish's comedy.
[Of Course, that did not prevent SRK to announce the sex appeal that gay folks have towards him - and this time, he did it with lots of metal ;-) ]
More than Sathish Shah and Brigade, I liked the Jackie Chan comedy in the movie :-)
Chhammak-Chhallo song - I am already impressed with it!! Akon - a non-desi singer rapping the bollywood audience with a very very desi item number!! Too Good!!
All-in-all SRK has put in so many ingredients for appealing various masses - a Tamil God-star for good omen [remember the world cup final?], Video gaming and child fantasy, Bebo, Chhammak-challo item number, great special effects, good storyline, bearable action sequences and the magic of King-khan himself!!
Those who haven't seen it yet, give it a try folks - It's different!!
Also, this movie has an open ended climax and we can see more of G.ONE soon :-)
