Released in 2011, ‘Ra.One’ was one of the most ambitious science-fiction superhero films in Indian cinema. Directed by Anubhav Sinha and starring Shah Rukh Khan in a dual role alongside Kareena Kapoor Khan and Arjun Rampal, the film pushed the boundaries of visual effects and technology in Bollywood. Produced by Gauri Khan under the banner of Red Chillies Entertainment, it remains a talking point even 15 years after its release.As the film completes 15 years, director Anubhav Sinha looks back at the idea that brought ‘Ra.One’ to life, his first meeting with Shah Rukh Khan, the experience of making one of Indian cinema’s most lavish spectacles, the creative decisions he would revisit today and why he remains indebted to the superstar.You came up with the idea of ‘Ra.One’. How did Shah Rukh Khan become part of the vision?I had this basic idea that a father makes a video game. He is a meek father, a video game developer, and not a typical hero father. He develops a game for his son, who wants a super-powerful villain. So, the father creates one, but the villain comes out of the game and kills him. Very sweetly, the father has made the hero of the game look like himself as a gift for his son. Now, the hero has to be brought out to take the villain back into the game.So, that was the core idea?That was the core idea. I thought the dynamics between the son and the hero, and between the wife and the hero, were very interesting. The moment I thought of it, I imagined Shah Rukh Khan. I felt he would be interested because he was into gaming and technology. He was very high-tech even before it became fashionable.Shah Rukh was among the first people in the film industry to buy a computer, wasn’t he?No, no. The original tech enthusiast was Shammi Kapoor. He came way before Shah Rukh. I worked with Shammi ji in the first television show I ever made. It was called ‘Shikast’ and has 18 episodes on my YouTube channel. It aired on a cable TV network called Birla in Mumbai. Shammi ji was part of it, along with Manoj Bajpayee, Ashutosh Rana and Ashish Vidyarthi.Shammi ji was the first high-tech person I knew. I messaged him, met him and he agreed to work with me. Later, when I was making ‘Mulk’, Rishi Kapoor tried his usual bullying ways with me. I told him, “Sir, I won’t be scared of you. I have worked with your uncle.” Shammi ji was very fond of me, and I was very fond of him.How did your first meeting with Shammi Kapoor go?Some things are governed by energies and timings that are beyond our comprehension or control. I messaged him and heard back from him. He said he was in Delhi, would be back on Tuesday and that we could meet on Wednesday. So I said okay. On Tuesday, I messaged him again, he gave me an appointment and I went to meet him. He liked the idea and agreed.Those days, the heroes of the 1990s were much smarter.In what way?They never listened to the script.That made them smarter?Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn… They used to choose the people they wanted to work with, not the script.Coming back to ‘Ra.One’, how did Shah Rukh react when you narrated the idea to him?Shah Rukh loved it. He asked me when I wanted to make it. I said, “If you say yes today, two years later.” Much later, I was told that this line was the clincher. I think he liked that response a lot.‘Ra.One’ was one of the earliest superhero films in Hindi cinema. You have often spoken about your reservations about the film, but have also called it one of your favourite works. How do you look at it today?Now, I find problems with ‘Mulk’ as well. An artist can never be fully satisfied. The farther you move away from your work, the more problems you begin to notice. The only film that continues to be as dear to me today as it was when it released is ‘Thappad’.Really? Why does ‘Thappad’ please you so much?Because ‘Thappad’ is about nothing. It is about something that is perceived as nothing.Is ‘Ra.One’ your most lavish big-screen spectacle?I find ‘Assi’ very cinematic.I mean purely in terms of its visual scale and spectacle.Yes, purely in terms of the visual element, ‘Ra.One’ is my most spectacular work.Were you able to put everything you had imagined on screen in ‘Ra.One’?And more. And more, because Shah Rukh is a monster when it comes to giving. In fact, he once sweetly shouted at me, “Why do you keep thinking about money all the time?”All of us directors from the 1990s, my contemporaries, are exactly the same. We grew up in an atmosphere of creativity where you constantly had to cut down on things. Anurag Kashyap, Imtiaz Ali, Shoojit Sircar and I all come from the same universe.Are you proud that ‘Ra.One’ is still regarded as a pioneering Indian superhero film?I don’t make films for that. It doesn’t give me a high. What gives me a high is whether I managed to make the film I set out to make. Most of the time, my answer is yes.Not with ‘Anek’, though. My aim was wrong. I put so much into it, so much politics, that it became incomprehensible. The aim itself was wrong. I got what I was making, but what I was making was wrong.Ayushmann Khurrana had seen that. He is an intelligent actor. He understood it and told me, but I kept saying, “No, no, no, this is good.” He said, “No, sir, I am walking behind you. Tell me where to go.” And he followed me to the T.A lot of things in ‘Ra.One’ worked. I would say 60 to 70 per cent of the VFX is fantastic.But wasn’t Rajinikanth’s appearance in the film a little gimmicky?That’s what I keep talking about when I say I lost my grip over the film. We get very, very enthused. The moment we mention Shah Rukh, everything becomes about him because he is such a big personality. His enthusiasm is also very contagious. He is a child himself when it comes to the process of making a film.Would you agree that if you had exercised tighter control, ‘Ra.One’ might have turned out much better?No, no. This loss of grip was inadvertent. I wasn’t aware that I was doing it. To begin with, the scale of the film and the size of the star I was working with were way beyond my means. Who was I? I had just finished making and releasing ‘Cash’.I remember you asking me when the news came out, “Tu Mannat mein ghusa kaise hai?”I don’t remember saying that!What you meant was, how did I suddenly enter that other world? If you remember, at the time, Shah Rukh used to work with Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar, Farhan Akhtar and Farah Khan. It was a very different world.Even after all these years, ‘Ra.One’ remains a talking point. Whenever you post anything about the film, your comments section is filled with requests for a sequel. Have you considered making ‘Ra.One 2’?Have you thought of a film with Shah Rukh Khan? Shah Rukh and I don’t talk about films. Also, the phase he is in right now is not something I am cut out for. Action and action. I keep getting offered action films.Money thinks it has found a formula. It believes it knows the formula. The money is repeatedly failing with that formula, but it continues to believe in it.Where would you place ‘Ra.One’ in your adventurous filmography?In my office, there is a wall with stills from films featuring actors with whom I feel obliged because they chose to work with me. The centrepiece is ‘Ra.One’. And it is not because of Shah Rukh Khan. I genuinely feel indebted to Shah Rukh Khan.There are a lot of things about that experience. The aftertaste of that film is beautiful. I love it. I love the fact that many younger people don’t even know I made ‘Ra.One’. They know me for ‘Article 15’. So, they want me to make another ‘Ra.One’. I know. I know it is a big thing.
