Anubhav Sinha on his 2011 SRK-starrer flop Ra.One being praised now: ‘A film that was so harshly judged…’ | Exclusive

Bollywood has finally caught the VFX bug. The film industry, which had, for long utilised visual effects and CGI sparingly, is making big use of it now. Whether it was last year’s Brahmastra or this year’s biggest hit Pathaan, or even the upcoming mythological epic Adipurush, all are VFX heavy. But the reactions to their VFX’s finesse have been varied. And interestingly, each time a film’s VFX has been criticised on forums online, cinegoers have brought up the 2011 sci-fi film Ra.One as the ‘gold standard’.

Interestingly, upon its release, Ra.One, which starred Shah Rukh Khan and Arjun Rampal, was a box office failure and was criticially panned as well. In an exclusive chat with DNA, the film’s director Anubhav Sinha reacted to this phenomenon. On being asked if this meant the film was judged too harshly for its time, Sinha said, “It’s not for me to say this because I would always find criticism harsher. But if someone not involved with the film says it was harsh, I would obviously latch on to that.”

The filmmaker added that the film’s relevance today speaks volumes about its ‘success’ though. “I am a big believer of how long a film lives determines its legacy. The fact that a film that was so harshly judged and criticised 12 years back lives on online with people calling it ahead of its time speaks volumes. Then, that is the film’s success and it gives me a lot of happiness,” he added.

Ra.One starred Arjun Rampal as the titular supervillain alongside Shah Rukh Khan in a double role as his superhero adversary and the scientist who created them. The film also starred Kareena Kapoor. While the film did earn over Rs 100 crore, the high production cost meant it was declared a box office failure. It also holds a low 4.7 rating on IMDb.