I realise, with some curiosity, that the last three films I’ve
seen have all been Bollywood films – an indication of how my watching routine
has changed, more than anything else. Three in two months (the other two being Meri
Brother ki Dulhan and Mujhse Fraandship Karoge) is more Bollywood seen than in
the decade that preceded it, I daresay. So, Bollywood tropes are lost on me, as
are any winks at its history. Only the most axiomatic of pharmoola conventions may register with me.
Irrelevant, in any case, as Ra.One would seem, as per SRK’s
rumblings, to want, much like various films saddled with the tag in the recent
past, to be Bollywood’s coming out party to the rest of the world. At any rate,
to secure a bigger slice of the worldwide (and not just the NRI) box office pie,
so that its bloated production budget could be recouped.
My decision to watch Ra.One was whimsical. I was walking
past the theatre to catch lunch, and just decided. The box office told me that
I could just show up and pick any seat I wanted, because the hall was empty. Of
course, this was at 1 PM, and the eventual headcount was around twenty people.
More significantly for my recent Bollywood watching habit,
this was the first that I was watching alone, without a translator guide. Not
that it made much of a difference, but some of the punch that the dialogue may
have aspired for would have been lost on me due to ignorance of the language,
rather than comprehension and then falling
flat.
I haven’t followed much of the negative/positive press
surrounding the movie, though I haven’t been ignorant to it either. Not
watching much TV means I haven’t been subjected to SRK’s constant pimping too
(though, a toothpaste advert running in the theatre before the film started was
one such pimp role). I also don’t (or, at the least, try) not to judge a movie
that I plan to see before I see it.
I have seen it, and now I judge it.
Well, just as I type this, someone on twitter responded to a
tweet of mine that called the film a cinematic abortion with “Ppl lik these r
the reason India wil nevr see bettr movies. If som1 tries new stuff, they fart
with their pessimist ass!” Oh, wait, this was a response to a tweet where I
poked fun at a Bombay local train being too fast. Nevertheless, this reply is a
good starting point, as is an earlier tweet of the user: “The problem in India
is that, people are so used to the shitty movies, that they just don't want to
accept better technology.”
Ra.One is not original.
Starting with the title animation that has been nicked from
Transformers, the movie is not original, chucking any genre convention it can
get its hands on (hell, creation coming to life is at least as old as Shelley’s
Frankenstein) into its melting pot, regardless of whether its tone fits with
the overall scheme.
Is that a problem per
se? No. I am perfectly capable of having an enjoyable time with a plot that’s
nonsensical (Hitchcock, anyone?), and even when the characters behave in a
nonsensical fashion independent of what the plot dictates [such as digesting
the central conceit of the plot with barely a shrug, or barely (beyond one
rainy funeral) grieving a dead husband/father (keeping with the South Indian
stereotyping, let’s call him Da.One) and gleefully accepting Da.Two, much
improved/ North Indianised].
Let me start with what I liked about Ra.One.
Arjun Rampal is yummy. I want those cheekbones and abs. The
music in the film (the score, not the songs) is suitably cinematic, and the ‘dun
dun dunn’ ominous riff caught my ear back when the first teaser dropped (during
last year’s IPL? Can’t remember).
Note that I didn’t include Rajnikanth’s cameo. Being South
Indian doesn’t mandate me to do so, unlike what the producers might think. I’m
not even going to go into the deeper socio-universal repercussions his appearance
as Chitti bodes (it would mean that the film was taking place in a universe
where at least one robot is acknowledged and at large), because clearly the
producers weren’t thinking beyond a nudge-nudge wink-wink moment. But, even within
those goals, it’s such a completely non-sequitor and downright random scene that is preceded by absurdity
and ends with an edit away. No context/closure provided.
What sucked? Everything else.
I’m not going to criticise it for the things usually left at
the door in this genre (boom-boom action family flick, oxymoronic as that may
seem) – tugging at the heart strings, kid that deserves to be slapped, dumb
explosions, monkeys at typewriter script etc.
Though, one thing to be mentioned is its nihilistic view
towards life – whatever happened to the incidental people walking across the
street not being reduced to collateral damage? Here, both Ra.One (ok, fair
enough, if to establish how dastardly the character is) and G.One gleefully indulge
in damage to person and property.
I’m going to engage this film on the plane that SRK wants
the watching public to – technology. Better technology, as the twitter user
would say.
Is the technology better? (better than what? It’s not being
judged against… Peepli [Live], is it?) Perhaps it is, but so what? It’s still
painful to watch, and no amount of F/X wizardry is going to change that – the CGI
is quite evident in a lot of places it’s not supposed to be (i.e. discounting
the nature of the video gaming beast), and it’s inconsistent in logic too –
flesh and blood characters within a CG world in the video game.
Being pretty to look at does not make it something people
should want to watch. Call me old school, but I believe (as do a large number
of people) that the technical aspects should never eclipse the story of a
movie. The makers shouldn’t feel that they deserve a pat on the back merely for
making something nice (even if absolutely masturbatory in its overblown nature)
to look at, and they certain shouldn’t try to actively solicit it.
This is not a Western hegemonic critique where I feel that
Ra.One is trampling on Hollywood’s toes. I don’t like brainless action films
from Hollywood either. It also doesn’t mean that boom-boom movies don’t make
money – of course they do, whether it’s the Jerry Bruckheimer oeuvre or this
one. However, of note is that this film goes beyond its call of Michael Bay
duty and does not treat most of its characters with even a modicum of respect,
and has no heart.
In trying to elevate itself to whatever testosterone explosion
porn level of Hollywood, Ra.One has imbibed all the wrong lessons from it –
marketing blitz, super-saturation of screens, utter contempt towards its
characters, and being a cynical cash grab. Amongst other things.
Making a pile of money doesn’t mean it’s any good.
