Does SRK regret Ra.One?

The superstar admits he should have made a better film!

Shah Rukh Khan

Finally it looks like Shah Rukh Khan has accepted what critics and a lot of his fans had been saying – ‘Ra.One’ was a greatly marketed but poorly made film!

The superstar believes marketing has become an indispensable part of filmmaking because of the rising ticket prices but feels he could have made the sci-fi superhero movie in a better way. "It's very important because a film like 'RA.One' lends itself a little more, it's for children, it's superhero and stuff. I wish I had made it a little better because people started jumping on my back, 'Itna market kiya aur aisa picture banaya tumne’ (You marketed it so much, and made a film like this). So, I got a little waylaid on that," he said in a chat with news channel NDTV on the sidelines of the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2011 where he won the award of Creative Entrepreneur Of The Year.

However, he doesn’t discount the importance of marketing a film (but naturally!). “I think it's very, very important in entertainment to get into merchandising, to get into gaming and be on the net... we cannot negate that any more, whatever the level of film you are making,” he said.
SRK, known for coining some of the best marketing strategies to sell his films, associated with over 50 brands for his ‘RA.One’. However, he received mixed reaction for the movie which was directed by Anubhav Sinha. Most critics gave it between two and three stars.

The movie, a sci-fi project, had a production cost of Rs 150 crore, and according to reports, his tie-ups to market the film were worth Rs 52 crore. Shah Rukh, a graduate in Economics, feels it's important to look at films as a product nowadays. "I think you really need to take films and think of it as a product and put it across, and inform everyone what this product is because it is very expensive to go and buy the ticket.”

"You know it's Rs 500-Rs 700, so you need to tell the customer this is what it is going to be. The more the channels you can inform on, I think more you are right about your product," said Shah Rukh, who had begun promoting ‘RA.One’ months before its release.

We agree with you SRK, but can you keep aside some money from the mammoth budgets to develop a good script too?