I had to… It had to be…
Come August mid week, my son came up with his demand …
“Papa , September 9, 2022, First day, First show, we got to see Brahmastra”…
“You know Papa, Alia’s name is Isha, it means Parvati and Ranbir is Shiva”. He enlightened me…
So I had to…
It was more than a reason to see the movie amongst all Boycott trend happening in the virtual world, the Twitter. So last Saturday we made a trip to the first part of Astraverse.
Bollywood or to say it more professionally, the Hindi cinema was going through its worst phase post pandemic. Most commercial releases were either official remakes of American, South Indian or Spanish films, there was no intriguing content.
9/11,the date when Ayan Mukherjee cast his magical weapon called the Brahmastra.
In mythology, two types of weapons exist. Astras and Shastras. Astras could be activated by Mantras or Shlokas and the Shatras were physical weapons. God had to be pleased for the Astras.
Amongst the Astras, Brahmastra is supposedly the most destructive weapon known, originating from Lord Brahma’s (the creator of the world), head.
Before Ayan used it recently, the Brahmastra was used in Mahabharata, the fight between Ashwathama and Arjun… Arjun could withdraw the Astra as he was a genius… Ashwathama could not withdraw it properly so he diverted it to kill Abhimanyus’ son in the Uttara’s womb itself.
So it had to be reviewed… (The movie I mean 😀).
Let’s do a SWOT ANALYSIS…
STRENGTHS: The film’s biggest strength is its Visual effects and the background score (BGM) amongst others.
A big big shout out for the VFX.
We should appreciate that we got to see Marvel-like (international standards) VFX virtually for the entire length of the movie. The film has about 4500 VFX shots as compared to Avengers which has about 2400 VFX shots.
Full marks for the attempt. I have had the chance to work with Prime Focus, one of the producers of the film, (who partnered with their own international company DNEG, for the effects) so I know a bit about the hard work and technicalities that go to build a good VFX.
Ra.One did it. Robot did it. And now Brahmastra. As we look back, Ra.One story was before its time where in a character from a game comes out in the real life and the madness begins. We all at some point of time fantasize, dream about things like that. Ayan too fantasized about stories like that in his childhood and thus seems to have lived it through the movie.
If you wish, there is always a chance of finding faults.. but just for the attempt I rate it 5/5.
The loudest shout to the BGM.
The sound effects and score led by the ace music director Pritam, really keeps the audiences intrigued all through the movie.
The songs, Kesariya and Deva are smoothing to the ears.
Rating 3.5/5
Among the actors, the scientist steals the show. What a breath taking opening sequence. King Khan you have a charisma which glues us to the screen.
Rating 10/5. Like it or not I am a Jabra SRK fan…
Ranbir was his usual. Good.
Alia can act better than in this role. She has proved herself as an actor with great performances in Gangubhai and Raazi…
Akkineni Nagarjuna’s role is not justifiable with his calibre. He is strategically placed by apna KJo to get brownie points from the Telugu fans.
Mouni Roy was the surprise package… The underdog whose performance was not appreciated much. She was the perfect Nebula, daughter of Thanos.
And last but not the least. The Big B… Well it’s just that we send Sachin Tendulkar in the 19th over of a T20 match and then critique him for not scoring!!
Weaknesses:
Shiva, Shiva, Shiva, Shivaaàaaaaaaaaaaa, Shiva jaag gaya, Shiva Soy gaya, Shiva, Shiva, Shiva…
Well that’s not a Shivstrot that I am chanting, but Isha is. If Ravana would have chanted it as many times he definitely would have got the Pashupatastra.
The dialogues do not match the whole cinematic experience of the subject. They are the weakest of all the Astras in this movie.
Especially key conversations between Guruji and the protagonist are very childish.
Things like tumhe onn hona chaiye, onn hone Kai liye tum ho., it really makes no sense. . My advertising mind takes me to a different path as I hear this. Thank God I was not a visualizer… 😂
The movie run time is also too long. 2 hrs 47 minutes is a bit too much… Though better than the initial planned 3 hrs .The climax sequence could also be shortened.
Opportunities :
The first part has opened up a world of opportunities for this trilogy. Made with a whooping Rs 400 crore budget, the film has done a business of Rs 212 crore in the domestic market. If we add up the international collections it sums up to a whopping Rs 300 crore odd.(figures till going in print).
As any financialist would agree,that it’s an investment risk that Ayaan has taken. The ROI will come after the second part as was in the case of Bahubali.
While on the other hand it has created curiosity for the identity of the main antagonist Deva… So who is Deva and Amrita… Is it Deepika and Ranveer. Only time to tell… Second best to the Katappa ne Bahubali ko kyu mara.
Threats…
“You only compete with yourself “
A famous quote by a famous person, seems true for Brahmastra. The only threat part 2 faces is carrying the burden of expectations.
Bahubali 2 could not live up to it, but the figures( accounting) were outstanding… if you ask me I liked the first part more than the second.
And of course who can ignore the Boycott threat which can pop up anytime and can be as destructive as Brahmastra. 😀
Overall a good entertaining movie… And please note this is not a paid review ( i wish it was .. show me the moneyyyy…)…
Overall Rating : 3.75/5
PS: Make sure popcorn is sponsored by your wife as it’s too heavy for the pocket 😂.
For now, let’s wait for Deva.. till then…
Happy viewing…
Coming soon.
(Next in line Preview of Vikram Vedha)..
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