10 years of Ra.One: The many firsts of Shah Rukh Khan’s superhero film that make it unique

The Anubhav Sinha directorial also featured Kareena Kapoor Khan as the female lead and Arjun Rampal in the titular role as the main antagonist.

A still from Ra.One

It's been a decade since Shah Rukh Khan donned the steel-blue coloured suit with shiny blue eyes and brought life to a superhero named G.One. Yes, it's been 10 years since the superstar's vision came true on the big screen with Ra.One which also marked his first collaboration with filmmaker Anubhav Sinha. The title of the film was named after the main antagonist of the film played by Arjun Rampal and even that made a talking point back then.

From the announcement till its theatrical release, Ra.One was among the most anticipated and discussed films in India and deservedly so. The film took the VFX in the country to the next level and created a benchmark that no other Indian film took it back then. For the same, Ra.One even won Best Special Effects at the National Film Awards which were bagged by Harry Hingorani and Keitan Yadav of Red Chillies VFX.

Interestingly, many things happen for the first time when it comes to Ra.One and its making. As the superhero film clocks 10 years of its release, let's take a look at them in detail below:

Shah Rukh Khan turned superhero for the first time

After playing an obsessive stalker, the King of Romance, a stylish don and also a hockey coach, Shah Rukh Khan donned the superhero suit for the first time. The superstar has a dual role in Ra.One - one as the scientist Shekhar Subramaniam who designed the game Ra.One while the other is the superhero G.One who is made to enter the physical world from the game to save it from menacing Ra.One.

Ra.One launched as India's first social game

As a part of the promotions and digital strategy, India's first social game was introduced in the name of Ra.One. It was interesting back then to have a game based on a film. The film was made available to play on mobile phones, on laptops, computers and also TV sets.

Akon made his Bollywood debut with Ra.One

American singing star Akon was announced to make his Bollywood debut with the iconic track Chammak Challo sung alongside Hamsika Iyer, Sukhwinder Singh and Blaaze in Ra.One. But it also came as a surprise to many when the pop star also sang the song Criminal in the film along with Vishal Dadlani and Shruti Pathak. The songs became instant chartbuster hits and are still loved by people.

Italian cinematographer Nicola Pecorini was roped in for Ra.One

Nicola Pecorini known for his work in the films namely Rules of Engagement, The Order and others were roped in by the makers of Ra.One to do the cinematography along with V Manikandan and Ewan Mulligan. This was the first time Pecorini worked on an Indian film.

Hollywood's Jeff Kleiser was assigned as the visual effects supervisor

Jeff Kleiser, the man behind Tron, Stargate, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, X-Men and X-Men United as VFX Supervisor, showed his incredible work in Ra.One too. The VFX is indeed top-notch and was most talked about during the making and the release of the film.

Hong Kong-born British actor Tom Wu makes his Bollywood debut with this film.

Earlier it was reported that Jackie Chan was offered the role of Akashi in Ra.One. It was then rumoured that the legendary actor declined the offer and Tom Wu was approached for the same. The Hong Kong-born British actor has been a part of many Hollywood flicks namely Shanghai Knights, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Batman Begins, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior, Skyfall and others.

Ra. One became the first Bollywood film to have more than 2500 VFX shots in a film

One of the biggest firsts for Ra.One was the film having the maximum VFX shots back then. It was said that the film had more than 2500 VFX shots and every one of them was done with acute detailing to make it look polished and flawless. The film was shot in the 3D camera and then converted to 2D for both kinds of viewing in the country.

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