Bigger the star, bigger the expectation. Bigger the expectation, bigger the scale. And bigger the scale, larger the duration. This is what Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One promises when it gets ready to arrive this Diwali. To justify hundreds of crores that have been pumped into the making of this Anubhav Singh directed film, the running length of Ra. One too would be good enough to give audience a complete ‘paisa vasool’ experience.
“Though the current trend is to make films last not more than two hours, Ra.One would be an exception. It would be a two and a half hour spectacle as Shah Rukh as well as Anubhav believe that there is a lot to be told, something that the audience should not be deprived of, especially since expectations have been sky high”, says a source attached to the film.
The only other film in the recent times which has actually clocked 150 minutes is Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and it has turned out to a good success. Even Singham is much longer than two hours and audience don’t seem to mind those extra minutes presenting an overdose of action. On the other hand, one of the bigger hits in last few weeks, Delhi Belly, has been the shortest of them all by clocking under 100 minutes.
“At the end of the day, it is also about the kind of genre that you are exploring”, an editor remarks in defence of the Shah Rukh Khan starrer. “Ra.One is the first ever sci-fi film of this scale and setting to have been made in Bollywood. Shah Rukh has pumped over Rs. 150 crores in this film and is still counting. It makes sense to present to audience everything which is special about a new world that has been created here. Even Avatar had lasted 162 minutes.”
Shot for over 125 days, it was only this Monday that Ra.One came to a close with its final schedule lasting for 10 days. While the film was being edited simultaneously over last few months, now comes the challenge of putting everything together in one place and make it a seamless movie watching experience.
“There is so much to be told in Ra.One”, admits Anubhav, “However both Shah Rukh and I are of the opinion that we should be keeping the film’s length under 150 minutes. Of course it’s a struggle to do that but at the end of the day, it’s the film that will dictate its duration rather than vice versa. Now that the film’s shoot is complete, we should know within next fortnight how the theatrical cut will look like.”
Given the fact that we didn’t mind Rajinikanth’s antics that lasted for three hours in Robot, there is no reason why Shah Rukh won’t hold our interest for those two and a half hours.
