RA. One

Ra. One is a 2011 Indian science fiction superhero film directed and co-written by Anubhav Sinha. Co-produced by Eros International and Red Chillies Entertainment, the film features Shahrukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Shahana Goswami and Tom Wu in pivotal roles, and follows a game designer who lives in London with his wife and son. He designs a motion sensor-based game in which the antagonist is more powerful than the protagonist. The former escapes from the game into the real world, and begins to track down Lucifer, the game ID of the only player to have defeated him. Sinha was struck with the idea of the film when he saw a television commercial showing children controlling a human with a remote. He began the film's development in 2004; the pre-production started in 2007. Principal photography began in March 2010 and took place in India and the United Kingdom after Miami was dropped as a location. The film's post-production involved stereoscopic conversion and visual effects, the latter of which was recognised as a technological breakthrough among Indian films. With an official budget of File:Indian Rupee symbol. svg125 crore, Ra. One was one of the most expensive Indian films at the time of release, though other estimates placed the budget at higher levels. A further File:Indian Rupee symbol. svg52 crore was spent on the film's marketing, which included a nine-month publicity campaign, brand tie-ups, merchandise, theme-based video games and viral marketing. Ra. One was initially scheduled to release on June 3, 2011, but the film's post-production encountered significant delays. The film also faced controversies involving plagiarism, content leaks and copyright challenges. Subsequently, the release was delayed to the five-day Diwali weekend which began on October 26, 2011. The film premiered in Dubai, London and Toronto between October 24 and 26, 2011, and witnessed the largest Indian cinematic release worldwide as of 2011. Additionally, the film was screened in 3D and dubbed versions. The film itself was preceded by high expectations and significant optimism regarding its commercial success. Critical reactions to the film were lukewarm in India, with unanimous acclaim for production values but criticism towards the script and direction. Conversely, the overseas critical reception was generally positive. Commercially, Ra. One became the third highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2011 and broke a number of box office opening records, but failed to sustain its collections. While the box office website Box Office India declared Ra. One a domestic hit and overseas super hit, several trade analysts deemed the box office performance as average and pointed out that the film failed to meet expectations. Ra. One won a number of awards primarily for technical aspects, notably one National Film Award, one Filmfare Award and four International Indian Film Academy Awards. However, the film itself received dishonorable awards like Worst Film, namely two Golden Kela Awards and one Ghanta Award.