Ra.One Brings A Taste Of Bollywood To PS Store

If you had a close look at last week’s PlayStation Store update (which I am sure most of you did) you may have spotted a new game called Ra.One. You may not have heard of it and, therefore, not given it much more thought. That is, if you`re not from India. Because in the second most populous country in the world, Ra.One is one of the most anticipated Bollywood films of all time. It is so popular that the producers decided to develop an internationally released videogame out of it.

We held an interview with Atindriya Bose from PlayStation India to find out more about this rare title.

Can you give us an introduction to Bollywood, for those of us in Europe not already familial with the cinema phenomenon?

It is true that Bollywood movies are unlike movies made in Europe or the US. Though it’s hard to capture the vibrancy and sheer diversity of the Indian film industry with a few words, Bollywood movies combines more than one genre in the same movie, blending elements of comedy, romance, action and drama. The goal is to appeal to as many people as possible. That way there’s something for everyone in every film—the grandparents, the parents, the teenagers, and little kids alike.

The popularity of movies as an entertainment medium for majority of Indian people is widespread across the country. Due to the vast geographical diversity within India, the movies are made to cater to the sensibilities. India actually produces far more films annually that attract far greater audience numbers globally than the US.

Ra.One is the most ambitious project from Shah Rukh Khan to date. Needless to say his fans and members from the Indian film fraternity are eagerly looking forward to the release of the movie. Breaking the norm of most Bollywood movies that centre on romantic comedies, Ra.One explores the genre specific, sci-fi superhero movies.

What kind of game can we expect? Can you give us some insights to the gameplay?

In terms of the storyline, it loosely connects to the movie storyline and introduces people to the characters and the origin of their powers and characteristics.

It’s an action game in a sci-fi environment. All of the key characters in the movie (with the key protagonist – G.One, as played by Shah Rukh Khan) will be present. There is a series of challenges in a storyline woven across various environments, built in a futuristic space age colony. The game thereby creates a story link that helps you understand the movie better.

The game has been conceptualized by Shah Rukh Khan himself (known as the king of Bollywood) and has more than 20 levels, 4 game modes with various challenges and boss fights across various levels. In terms of the gameplay length, this is around 7 – 8 hours of game play duration across the various combinations.

Is this a game made for Indians or do you see there being more International appeal?

We would not like to differentiate between the Indian release and the international release. They are both important markets for us. Germany and Poland, countries which you might not relate to Bollywood, have large Shah Rukh Khan fan bases, Bollywood magazines in their local languages and regular Bollywood dance nights. The game has a wide target audience and it will interest gamers and Shah Rukh Khan fans in other nations as well. Despite being an India-centric IP, there is huge potential to be acknowledged by global audience.