Mega-budget superhero movie “RA.One” is Shah Rukh Khan’s most ambitious project and he is trying to make it a world-class film, but at the same time he feels Indian filmmakers cannot compete with international moviemakers in the use of technology.
“I don’t think we are anywhere close to competing with international filmmakers. I don’t mean to offend anyone. We have great storytelling, good technology and do great stuff…we are the largest film producing nation in the world!
“But having said that, when it comes to technology in films like ‘Batman’, ‘Superman’ and ‘Spiderman’, I don’t think we should even try to compare ourselves to them as yet. They are way ahead. Their resources are really huge compared to what we can do,” Shah Rukh told reporters here.
“RA.One” is directed by Anubhav Sinha and the 45-year-old plays the superhero in the film. His costume, described as stiff and heavy, has been designed by a team of specialists in Los Angeles.
“It’s fortunate that I have the resource to take ‘RA.One’ to a certain level. I don’t have the resources to take it to a bigger level yet, but if the market for Indian films increases, of course we can do it. ‘RA.One’ is the first step towards that,” said the actor-producer who is co-producing it with Eros Entertainment.
The budget of “RA.One” is said to be over Rs.100 crore and Shah Rukh said he might have certain stunts in 3D to woo his younger audiences.
“RA.One”, which is replete with visual effects, also promises to change the movie-going experience for cinegoers here. For the first time, the Dolby surround 7.1 system is reportedly being installed in several multiplexes in the run-up to the film’s release.
The technical team of “RA.One”, including Oscar-winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty, headed by Shah Rukh will be in Los Angeles this month to work on the special sound effects.
Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has already showered praise on the film after seeing its 30-second trailer, saying “RA.One” has raised bar on VFX technology in Indian cinema.
It’s payback time for him, says Shah Rukh, who plans to cash in on the Diwali season by releasing the film, which also stars Arjun Rampal and Kareena Kapoor, Oct 26.
“I have worked for 20 years in this industry and I owe my life to it. I feel this is what I would like to give back – I give this technology to all new directors and actors so that they feel ‘Yes, we can do it’ and much cheaper than Hollywood. I hope the scope and audiences of Indian films increases and we get more money to make good films as wonderful as ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Spiderman’,” he added.
Shah Rukh is not hopeful of his film being picked as India’s official entry for the Oscars, but he will be content with a welcome response from the audiences and a Filmfare award or two!
“I don’t think it’s our choice that which film must go for the Oscars from our country. I don’t know the process…I don’t know if popular cinema should go for it, or our parallel cinema, like ‘Paheli’ was. But franky, I don’t think this film (‘RA.One’) will be chosen as an Oscar nomination from our country,” he said.
“I think I’ll be happy with one or two Filmfare awards for the VFX in my film,” he added in his trademark witty style.
Shah Rukh’s earlier production venture “Paheli” was short-listed as India’s official entry to Oscars by the Film Federation of India (FFI) in 2006.
“I was shocked when ‘Paheli’ was selected,” said SRK.
