Is SRK's 'Ra.One' a Rs 150 crore affair?

Ever since 'Ra.One' was announced, there have been speculations galore around its scale and budget. Though the makers never went on the records when it came to the budget spent on the film, insiders from trade did peg this Shah Rukh Khan starrer to be costliest ever with the making costs comfortably crossing the 100 crore mark. Now that the First Look of the film is out, all doubts around the film being the most expensive ever have been quashed.

"The film hasn't become costly during the process of its making; it was always supposed to be expensive right from the time film's script was being written. Later when the process of storyboarding started, Shah Rukh and Anubhav realised that 'Ra. One 'would require much more than just 100 crores. As things stand today, the making itself has cost over 125 crore. This doesn't include Shah Rukh's remuneration as he is the film's producer as well and hence is a partner in all profits that come along", confirms an industry source on condition of anonymity.

Given the fact that even on a conservative side Shah Rukh's fees wouldn't be less than 25 crore, the cost of making 'Ra.One' elevates to a good 150 crore. This would be notches above Rajnikanth's 'Endhiran/Robot' (132 crores) which is the costliest India film ever made and Bollywood's 'Blue' which was pegged at 100 crore. Going by the super-success of 'Endhiran' which was a regional film and had a limited market in Hindi speaking circuits, the makers of 'Ra.One' are confident though that they would not just recover the amount but also make neat profits, courtesy the huge market that Shah Rukh commands.