For the past ten years Bollywood has been on a rapid decline in terms of the critical and financial successes of its productions. Ayan Mukerji’s much anticipated, Brahamastra: Part One — Shiva, a movie centered around the idea of an Astra-verse, combining the elements of Hindu mythology in a modern context, has been developing for almost the same amount of time. Will this jarringly unexplored superhero genre live up to the expectations of a tough audience that, in recent years, has been consistently underwhelmed by the works of Bollywood. More importantly, will Brahmastra completely raise the bar for audience expectations, enticing producers and directors to follow suit and generate similar multi-tiered storyline’s with cutting edge VFX and other-worldly characters, thus revolutionizing Indian cinema.
One of the first concerns I had after watching the trailer was whether the acting prowess of Alia Bhatt would go to waste by reducing her character, Isha, to solely a love interest for the protagonist, Shiva (Ranbir Kapoor). This is certainly not the case as she plays an active role in assisting Shiva to his literal and metaphorical destination as an Astra (supernatural weapon) and also takes part in the action sequences, even going on an apparent solo mission. Moreover, her position as the love interest was equally important because the director used Isha’s romantic meeting with Shiva to introduce the audience to the protagonist. She does constantly ask “tum khon ho, kya ho” (who are you, what are you) and it is through her that we, as viewers, learn about Shiva’s selflessness, courage, his origin story and his “shakti” (power). However, it does appear that their relationship was included in the storyline for only this purpose and to tick off the romance box in the Bollywood Film checklist. The dialogue during their tete a tete’s was outdated, basic and cliché with cringy phrases such as “jab andhere ho to light ko dhoondo,” (when it is dark, look for the light) which really worked against convincing the audience that these characters fell in love over a matter of days. The director should have allowed their courtship to grow organically and slowly and given the reason for Shiva’s character development as a personal discovery of his identity as opposed to the power of love.
The same amount of time, effort and money should have been given to the script as it was to the CGI and VFX which is certainly the most impressive aspect of Brahamastra, on par with Hollywood productions and I would even go as far as saying, better than the recent releases of Marvel. This coupled with an exhilarating background score which highlights key entry and exit points of characters and the Brahmastra powers, as well as the songs which underpin the protagonist’s journey and development, makes the movie worthwhile to watch in IMAX and elevates the cinematic experience tenfold. Even after leaving the cinema I could feel the bone chilling sounds and music reverberating around me.
Another impressive technical aspect that deserves a mention is the transitional scenes and fighting sequences. Moving the storyline back and forth between the fantastical and romantic plot, despite the inauthenticity between Isha and Shiva’s relationship, was done in a manner that made the storyline flow smoothly. Many of the transitional scenes paralleled the protagonist and antagonist such as when Shiva was driving away from Junoon (Mouni Roy) and Junoon was driving towards the Nandiastra (Nagarjuna). These parallels with the opposing side foreshadows Shiva’s connection to it. Furthermore, the penultimate fighting sequence showcases Shiva’s point of view as he breaks in and out of consciousness all the while the enemy side rampages against him and his companions. This ingenious use of multiple ‘cut to blacks’ would seem like an odd choice given that this transition usually highlights the conclusion of a sequence of events and in Brahmastra this is employed in media res. However, it is efficient in increasing the anxiety of the scenes.
The general plot of Brahamastra was not very intriguing and at times convoluted with even one of the characters saying “mujhe kuch nahi samaj arha” (I don’t understand anything). This is because the film was used to introduce the audience to an array of new characters and more importantly a completely knew genre blending romance, fantasy, superheroes and mythology. The minimal screen time given to veteran actors such as Nagarjuna and Dimple Kapadia who already has experience working in a movie of this scale given her performance in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenant’ as well as a couple of exciting cameos from actors, who I will not be spoiling, would seem like a waste of talent. This leads me to consider perhaps a more significant role for their characters in future productions, especially as suggested in the title, this is only part one of a franchise for which the second part has already been teased as a post credit scene. Perhaps the director only gave glimpses of these actors and characters to entice viewers to watch the second film. On top of this, it would be refreshing to see Isha’s role given powers of her own. After all, as is pointed out in the film, her name does mean Parvati, the Goddess of Power and the wife of God Shiva.
To answer the question at the top of this review, yes. The first production of the Brahamastra franchise was disappointing as Bollywood once again portrayed a flimsy love story and included mediocre dialogue that at times was uncomfortable. This only goes to show that the much beloved tropes of comedic romantic dramas that plagued the 90s and the 00s is no longer riveting enough for the Indian audience and instead the industry needs to focus on generating sui generis plots and quit their pursuit of nauseating remakes. This is evident through the cutting edge CGI, VFX and cinematography, which saves the production, making it worthwhile to watch in theatres. Another note for the industry is that music is still very much so dear to the cinematic experience expected by the audience. In fact, many viewers flocked to theatres just for Pritam and Arjit Singh’s songs. From this, it is obvious that Brahamastra is a turning point, produces and directors can choose to continue creating the now cliché and irrelevant storylines that were once successful or head towards a new image of Bollywood, of which a glimpse was seen through Ayan Mukerji’s risky endeavor.
