Ayan Mukherji directs Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in Brahmastra – Part one : Shiva (B-P1:S) This is intended to be the first in the ambitious trilogy under the banner of Astraverse. Ranbir plays Shiva the orphan who falls head over heels in love with Isha played by Alia Bhatt when he first lays eyes on her at a Dusshera celebration. Shiva soon loses consciousness as the effigy of Ravan is set alight. He sees visions of terrible destruction being wrought on a person unknown to him and only referred to as Scientist. This sets in motion a series of events that will lead Shiva on a path to finding out about his own identity (a question Isha often poses to Shiva – “Shiva , who are you?”) and probably the destruction of the world as we know it.
The scope of B-P1:S is ambitious to say the very least. Ayan Mukherji who also conceived of and wrote the movie himself spends a large chunk of the movie in its world-building as one is prone to do in a king of origin story. The world Mukherji builds is imbued with many stories from Indian Mythology and Mukherji deals with them in a sensitive and respectful manner something Bollywood is often accused of (and perhaps rightly so) being rather insensitive about. The initial voice over on graphic novel like animation is impressive in how concise it is getting the message across. This urgent tone of story telling is something the movie fails to capture through its entire 2-hour 40 minute. In many places Mukherji overindulges, one song too many, one training montage too many, one damsel-in-distress moments for alia too many. Also, what takes you out of the Astraverse is the weird dialogue choices that writer Hussain Dalal makes. Ranbir speaks in a manner that often grates and diminishes any narrative tension that might have been created in the scene leading up to him speaking. Even the sonorous Amitabh Bachchan is left to spout some ridiculous nonsense about finding the “buttons” to “ON” the power of the Astras. It almost feels like the actors were asked to improv given the basic sketch of the story and Dalal wrote down their colloquial dialogue as the final verses on to the script itself. The songs are too cacophonous – almost too chaotic and a tune as beautiful as Kesariya is rendered neutered by trying to rhyme Kesariya with Love-storiya. More of the Deva Deva instead and the almost Enigma like chanting of the Mantras would be more effective. The sound editing and mixing also need serious thought as it veers into Hans Zimmer on steroids territory and dulls the narrative adrenaline rush with a chaotic din.
The movie succeeds each time Alia is on screen. The bit about finding the light is a self-fulfilling prophecy for Alia as she lights up the screen each time, she is on it. Ranbir embodies the physicality and the fluidity that one would expect off a superhero, he is nimble on his feet whether dancing or fighting. The Action scenes are expertly crafted and vibrant, some sequences seem overlong, stretched for so long that they end abruptly and almost anticlimactically. Mouni Roy as the lead antagonist is surprisingly effective, she never once over-vamps her Junoon. The Visual effects are top notch. The holographic representation of the Astra’s avatars is an absolute delight. Each time they show the magma-rock like embodiment of Dev it actually reminded me of how poor the animation was in Marvel’s Eternals!
There are many a thrilling moment and enough easter eggs and self-referential jokes to keep you entertained. Shah Rukh Khan saying “mein kabhi haarta nahi” is very very reminiscent of Baazigar, the Fire taking form of a serpent as Mouni approaches Alia Bhat in the climax seems like a callback to Mouni’s break out role as Naagin. There are plenty of cameos to keep pushing that dopamine hit, Dimple Kapadia in her very Gandalf like avatar elicited a proper squeal from me! Speculation was rife that Amrita – a crucial character was played by Deepika Padukone and Dev seemed to possess a physical similarity to Ranveer Singh. If Mukherji and producer Karan Johar manage to pull off these casting coups Part 2 promises to be a firecracker of a sequel with Ranbir, Ranveer, Alia and Deepika all very capable of chewing up the scenery individually, all 4 of them together might be equivalent to a nuclear explosion that the mythological Brahmastra is supposedly capable of being.
Despite lethargic editing and overindulgent world building the scope and ambition of Brahmastra overcomes any minor misgivings. Having been fed on a steady diet of LOTR, Harry Potter and the Marvel uni/multiverse it might be too convenient to look for visual similarity, but the heart of the story feels very original and therein lies the success. I do hope for Brahmastra- Part 2 : Dev Mukerji pay close attention to editing and pulls of the casting coup. I highly recommend you put your cynicism aside and give this ambitious movie a honest shot. Years from now it may very likely be looked up as a new narrative jumpstart to Bollywood story telling.
lifein70mm 