Mirai — An Authentic Indian Superhero Movie That Underutilizes Its Potential
It could have been the Iron Man of an Indian Superhero Universe
I’ve immensely enjoyed the three collaborations between Prashant Varma and Teja Sajja — Adbhutam, Zombie Reddy, and Hanuman. The latest one, Hanuman, made Teja Sajja a pan-Indian star. Hence, the anticipation for Mirai was high, even though this isn’t a Prashant Varma movie. The glimpse, teaser, and trailer only boosted the hype. The blend of Hindu mythology with slick action scenes and arousing music ensured good box office collections during its opening weekend.
The movie gives what the trailer promises. Except for some interesting detailing of the hero and villain’s childhood and origin story, nothing else is new that we haven’t seen in the trailer. The glimpse of Shri Ram in the trailer doesn’t have the same impact in the movie. I wanted to leave the cinema hall after the movie, shivering with goosebumps. Instead, I was left scratching my head about the convenient ending and how they grossly underutilized such an amazing concept.
The movie suffers from the same humor typical of Telugu cinema, and the introduction of Teja Sajja is similar to that of Prabhas in Kalki 2898 AD. Yet the movie keeps you engaged till the end. The fight scenes are well-executed, the background score is amazing, and the Sanskrit chanting in the background effectively elevates the moments in the movie.
Jagapathi Babu and Shriya Saran were the standout performers in the movie. Teja Sajja was being himself, and Manchu Manoj had a powerful presence but didn’t feel menacing.
I really wanted to like this movie. It had the potential to begin a series of movies, each focusing on one of the nine books of Ashoka. Instead, they compressed everything into one movie, thereby dumbing down the impact.
It could have been the Iron Man of India’s version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Mirai Cinematic Universe).
It could have opened doors to more characters from ancient Hindu stories, such as the seven immortals, or many more ancient weapons.
It could have delved deeper into the use of mantras and tantric powers in warfare from all the previous yugas. The sound weapons they showed in the movie were just a glimpse of what the concept of the 9 books of Ashoka was capable of.
Yet, there’s a lot to enjoy. My favorite parts were:
- The snippets of the song Rudhira Magadha playing in the background.
- The hero’s retrieval of the weapon.
- The fight scene post-interval, when the hero awakens the weapon and takes control.
- Villain’s origin story.
Overall, the movie is an entertaining watch, but the untapped potential feels disheartening. I felt the same way about Kalki 2898 AD, but that was a simple story with a single objective. Mirai, which literally means “future” in Japanese, could have opened the doors to a bigger and better future of Hindu ancient stories in the sci-fi genre. Nonetheless, it is technically the most refined movie of its kind, and a good beginning for Hindu stories to find their space in world cinema.
