What do you get when you mix the high-octane visuals of a superhero Hollywood movie with the emotional quotient of a mainstream Hindi movie? Well, that is what I guess Ayan Mukerji set out to achieve with his first movie from the Astraverse series Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva. And does he achieve that? Well, for the most part, he does.
Since this is the first part in the series (and I genuinely hope Ayan and Karan give us parts two and three), the storyline focuses on setting up the world of astras. We are introduced to the evolution of the astras in a quick comic book style montage with the voiceover of the one only Amitabh Bachchan. And then we meet Shiva, the man of the moment. And before you know you enter his world his life. He meets the love of his life Isha and interwoven into their love story is the story of Brahmastra. The duo travels from the streets of Mumbai, to the lanes of Varanasi and finally lands in the Himalayas. Along the way there are the evil forces wanting to gain the Brahmastra and the Brahmānsh fraternity who are protectors of the astras.
Now let's talk about the performances. In a movie that relies so much on visuals, the acting sometimes gets lost. But it is impossible to ignore an actor of Ranbir Kapoor's calibre. As Shiva, he brings a lot of heart and commitment. And full marks to him for his coordination in the action scenes and working with CGI. It is no mean feat. Alia Bhatt as Isha is pleasant. Their chemistry is beautiful to watch (I guess, there was not much acting there and all of it was real!). Amitabh Bachchan as the guru of the Brahmānsh is a regal presence. It is also awesome to see the septuagenarian flex his action muscles! Mouni Roy as the antagonist Junoon holds her own, not easy when you are sharing screen space with some of the biggest actors in Indian cinema (and no I am not talking about just Amitabh Bachchan). It is a treat to watch the action-packed cameos of Nagarjuna and Shah Rukh Khan. (I didn't want to give this particular spoiler, but then this is all over the internet by now. So just live with it!).
Ayan Mukerji had an enormous task at hand with this movie. And full marks to the director for the effort. He has done a decent job with the story, but somewhere the execution falters a bit. It feels that he wrote the entire story and then split it into parts. Visually the movie is stunning. And it is not surprising that there is a huge team of cinematographers (V. Manikandan, Pankaj Kumar, Sudeep Chatterjee, Vikash Nowlakha, and Patrick Duroux) handling this. But what is commendable is that the look and feel are seamless. Pritam's music is beautiful and the score by Simon Franglen is impactful. Of course, there are flaws, but that does not take away from the fact we have not seen something like this in Hindi cinema.
So go on, watch Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva on the big screen, and enjoy the visual spectacle. Do look out for some interesting easter eggs in the movie that will make for some fun post-movie conversations.