How 'RA.One' almost got A rating for daring stunts

Posted In : Videos
(added 18 Oct 2011)

Hadn't it been the tireless energy and enormous patience of the makers of 'RA.One', the film would have got only for adults certificate from the Censor Board of Film Certification. The board was of the opinion that the daring action sequences shown in 'RA.One' have the potential to affect the innocent minds of viewers and they might try them at their homes. Finally, Shah Rukh Khan along with the director Anubhav Sinha succeeded in convincing the Censor Board to permit the release of 'RA.One' with 'U' certificate.

How 'RA.One' almost got A rating for daring stunts

It should be considered a great achievement for a producer who has already spent more than Rs 35 crore on the promotion of the film. An 'A' tag would have certainly affected the business of the film which is primarily targeted to the family audiences.

After a discussion session the makers have accepted to show the warning in two languages long enough for the audiences to read each word. This concern of Censor Board raises some questions. Does the board think the kids of today's generation are silly enough to copy the acts mindlessly? Last ten years in a free economic environment have exposed the children to a number of mediums where they can access anything and everything. One of the most prominent sources is definitely internet where urban adolescents play a number of video games with breathtaking actions.

Apart from it, the TV has shown them a world where a 17 year old Ankan Sen wins a dance competition with extraordinary flexibility and stunts. Two-three 24 hour movie channels are completely dedicated to action films from all over the world and even after regulations a lot of content is infiltrating that has the potential of get imitated.

Some years ago, a popular children's soap on Doordarshan called 'Shaktimaan' had created such flutters when many kids in different cities had harmed themselves while copying the stunts shown in the serial but it has been several years and the viewers have become much more informed.

Watching action sequences in dance shows and films have become a part of our lives and the viewers don't react to them as before. The board has passed the film with a clearly stated warning in the beginning but it would not serve the purpose simply because children or naive audiences will still watch the film and any probable adverse effect will still happen. It seems to be just a face saving exercise by the board so that they could not be held responsible for anything later.


If the audiences are crazy enough to imitate the action sequences shown in the film then they are also incompetent to decode the message given in the beginning. The movie goers have certain notions about superhero flicks and they expect such characters to perform audacious aerobatics to save someone's life or a nation. If a superhero of such a film that has most of the action sequences encapsulated inside a video game will not be seen by the children then who else will see it. It's good that the Censor Board has given the film a 'U' certificate otherwise the audiences would have had doubts about their functioning style.

(added 18 Oct 2011) / 1416 views

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