Will 'Ra. One' turn out to be Shahrukh's 'Avatar'?

After 'Titanic', James Cameron spent twelve years of his life into making a masterpiece like 'Avatar'. Shahrukh Khan may not have spent as much time but he has come close by waiting for six years before 'Ra. One' could become a reality. Now that countdown has begun for his sci-fi superhero flick to arrive, film aficionados are wondering whether the results would indeed match up to huge expectations.

"Shahrukh has never spent so much time working on a single film. Yes, he generally works on one film at a time and at maximum may have two of his films release in a single year. However unlike an Aamir who may spend two-three in the making of '3 Idiots' or sit on 'Delhi Belly' for three years before arriving with final cut, Shahrukh isn't as patient. He would rather move on much faster though he has made an exception with 'Ra. One'. It is his very own 'Avatar'," says an industry veteran who has closely followed Shahrukh's progress ever since he was knighted as King Khan.

He could well be right here. After all it was exactly six years back in August 2005 when

 Shahrukh Khan had given a go-ahead to director Anubhav Sinha for making 'Ra. One'. The mandate was simple - 'Keep the entertainment going and make it the biggest ever film that Bollywood has produced'.

"Shahrukh was clear that if it all the super hero genre was being exploited, 'Ra. One' had to be the best ever in that genre. It was a no-compromise stand that he took and there was no restriction on time, scale or budget. In fact he opened his date diary for the film and since he also stepped in a producer, there was further flexibility to reinvent and improve as days progressed," informs a source connected to the film.

Now that 'Ra. One' is ready for release and that too in 3D, expectations are gargantuan as the film's budget is said to have been in excess of 150 crores while audience too has woken up to VFX laden masterpieces like 'Avatar'.

"Guess we can keep comparisons with James Cameron and his work aside because he is a great director though intrinsically his stories have a very Bollywood feel to them," says Anubhav who is obviously anxious about the two months ahead, "Having said that I guess it is only fair to say that 'Ra. One' should be a celebration for all involved. With Shahrukh spending six years on the making of this film and the coming back on screen as an actor 20 months after 'My Name Is Khan', the end result has to be extraordinary."

Well for that we would hold our verdict till Diwali 2011 when the film releases.