Brahmastra Movie Review

The secret of success for any given fantasy films is the right mix of vision and visual magic. At many times, we have seen the movies getting ticked in both the boxes, and in few cases, one among them goes missing. So how about Ranbir Kapoor-Alia Bhatt starrer Brahmastra, directed by Ayan Mukherji that boasts of VFX works done by the crew, which laid its Midas-touch upon the movies like Dune and many more remarkable Hollywood movies.

We see Shiva (Ranbir Kapoor) as a trendy DJ, and his life takes a turn when he falls in love with Eesha (Alia Bhatt). On the other end, there is a kind of witch lady (Moni Roy), who has few parts of a precious stone, and the other part is missing. It is guarded by few people with the supernatural powers, and yes, our Shiva is one among them, who is yet to discover his superhero within. He owns the special power of not getting hurt by the fire, and so are the others, who have unique powers. So here begins the combat of Good Vs Evil.

Firstly, filmmaker Ayan needs a special mention for his vision to create an astraverse. As mentioned earlier, this franchise is going to be a trilogy. When you walk into the theaters, clear about this intention of makers, there are chances that you don’t complain about the screenplay. First part in any given franchise is used for establishing the premise, introducing the characters and then to carry forward the legacy. Ayan tries to create a similar paradigm here with by encapsulating the Hindu mythology with the modern-day visual effects. But then, few moments actually look unwanted. Yes, we all know that Ranbir and Alia have a sizzling chemistry onscreen, but ‘Brahmastra’ doesn’t demand for the romantic elements. To be precise, delete every single romantic scene, it doesn’t make any difference to the movie. VFX works are one of the biggest highlights, but then, what actually turns out to be boredom is the overuse of these elements. After a certain extent, we get irked by this overdose and it turns out to be like a magic show with lots of LED lights indeed.

Of course, the movie does have lots of resemblances from the Hollywood and western masterpieces like Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Avatar – The Last Airbender, Game of Thrones, etc.

When it comes to movies of this paradigm involving Good Vs Evil, the antagonist needs to be substantial, but Moni Roy does nothing exceptional other than shouting and attacking. There are some intriguing scenes in the second half, but lack of emotions flattens the screenplay. Amitabh Bachchan is good with his role, but we have already seen him perform similar roles in many movies. Nagarjuna is the showstopper here, and he is sure to win applause in many places. Hope, he gets more footage in the second part too. The songs by Pritham are just okay and despite 5 cinematographers working in this movie, we don’t get to see the magic.

On the whole, Brahmastra has few engaging scenes and some top-notch visual effects. Maybe, Ayan took this first part granted for introducing us to the world of Astraverse, which in turn makes this movie look a passable show.