Brahmastra Part One: Shiva

"Brahmastra (I)" emerged as one of the highly anticipated big-budget Bollywood movies. I was fortunate to catch it in 3D for a mere 75 rupees (less than $1 USD) on the momentous 75th anniversary of Bollywood Cinema, three weeks after its release amidst varied reviews. The theater was packed, brimming with eager viewers.

The film began with a brilliant premise, a rare treasure hunt in the Bollywood landscape, intertwined with fantasy, romance. Ranbir Kapoor was exceptional, portraying a character with a captivating arc that shone brightly in the first half. However, even the brilliance of Amitabh Bachchan, one of my favorites, faltered in his role due to poorly written dialogues.

Alia Bhatt's character suffered from underdevelopment, making her one of the weaker aspects of the movie. The antagonist although portrayed well, lacked the strength and menace needed to be truly compelling. Despite these shortcomings, the movie remained enjoyable, offering a fun-filled experience with moments of excitement and intrigue.

The script, unfortunately, suffered from a messy narrative with numerous loopholes. The first half's adventurous elements, featuring divine culture and captivating hunts, were highlights worth relishing.

However, the climax disappointed, overloaded with unnecessary fiction. The attempt to create an epic fantasy fell short. Despite these flaws, "Brahmastra (I)" managed to pique my interest, and I appreciated Bollywood's venture into this genre.

Overall it presents a mixed bag of fantasy and adventure, brimming with potential but hindered by weak character development and overblown elements. While enjoyable in parts, it fell short of becoming the epic.

Brahmastra Part One: Shiva, is the movie with both good and bad. Here are my views after the 1st day 1st show watch.

Good: 1. The CGI which delivered well most of the time.

2. Music and especially the BGM which can be very catchy.

3. The attempt. India is rich with mythological stories and the movie is a nice try to represent one.

Bad: 1. Acting, yes acting. It's quite odd to see capable actors like Ranbir and Alia act so loudly and throw each and every dialogue out loud. Same for Mouni Roy who is screaming most of the time. There could a be a bit more toned down acting.

2. Storyline. The story telling could be a bit more engaging. It is at the beginning but lost track on the way.

3. Charector Development. The charector development of Shiva seems a bit abrupt. On the other hand Alia is reduced to a mere supporting character, always relying on Ranbir to save the day. A typical representation of how Bollywood sees the heroin. When you name a character 'Isha', you should make it a bit more stronger.

4. To much faith on audience. Though I agree the movie acts as a build up for upcoming movies, it relies too much on the build up and not on developing the first one.

5. Writing. Some of the dialogues are very repetative and feeds the audience over and over. Also there are too much of romantic moments between Ranbir and Alia that can be avoided. The movie would have been focused on the main theme then.

Overall it is a one time watch for CGI if you don't expect much from the story.

Astraverse is a brilliant concept but executed very lazily. The over emphasis on love story leave the sour taste in audience's mind. The dialogues are so poor that it makes you why so much incompetence when there is so much money involved in this film. Acting of Alia is uneven. She is very good in some scenes but really cringey in others. This film was shot for years which makes me think that it got every shades of acting from Alia's career.

Now the positives.

The Cinematography is beautiful. Every shot is just amazing to look at. Even the VFX heavy scenes look beautiful, not cheap. The scale of the film is amazing. The acting dept is also bang on. Ranbir, Alia, nagarjuna, Amitabh, Mouni and a secret cameo star did their job very well for the material they were given.

VFX of this film is probably the best i have ever scene in an indian film. Even the 3D scenes were done very well. The music and score perfectly suited for the film. The songs were not boring. The Sanskrit slokas bgm was just so cool to listen. I am waiting for them to drop the whole album.

This film was directed by Ayan Mukherjee who did a fine job in crafting this film. This film was very well shot. From action choreography to beautiful visuals, everything was done very well.

However director should note down all the criticism and fix them in part 2. We want to see a better film which focuses more on Astraverse. Trim down the love story element. More elements should be taken from hindu mythology. Give Alia more things to do in this universe than just a romantic interest. She can do much more for the film. More cameos please.

This film copies the likes of marvel terminator and 1-2 other Hollywood films. The love story was rushed and not believable. The best parts of this film were SRK and Big B. The special fx were overdone. The story was rushed for something that took 10 years to make. Nice effort but it was a fail. This 2.75 hour film could've been a 2 hour film by dumping the crap musical numbers and the prolonged fight scenes. Alia and Ranbir are good actors who did not act well in this movie. Save your money and wait to stream it. I wonder if they'll spend another 10 years to make part 2. Ranbir had 2 flop comebacks this year.

Overall, it's a good attempt, but Bollywood needs to understand that story is king.

1. The screenplay is one of the film's weakest points; it is cringy.

2. The background score is brilliant, but songs do break the rhythm of the movie.

3. The film is too chaotic.

4. Ranbir learns Agni in 5 minutes. There is no learning arc or struggle.

5. I actually love the magic school setting, but there's no focus there. It's really a missed opportunity.

6. There is no emphasis on other characters.

7.rushed and ilogical finale.

Pros

Both cameos are brilliant and showcase Astra's brilliance brilliantly.