Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva

I just got out of watching the first show in my city and was mostly happy with the attempt at a superhero movie by Ayan Mukherjee but the actors and dialogues let the movie down, mostly the dialogue choices were uniform and no steps to innovate were taken. Would have enjoyed it more if I could relate more to the characters in the movie. Even though it is a fantasy movie but the way characters were behaving, the world felt a little too simple with no relation to natural human behaviour. If you are not going to put effort in world building then at least make sure to introduce elements to our existing reality.

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.

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.

You know this was a mistake, yes, an error of judgment from my end. I traveled almost forty miles to watch the first day first show in 3-D, and I did it because I could not have waited any longer, but now it seems all my efforts have gone in vain! I recklessly put all my faith and trust in Bollywood, and into a director whose portfolio thus far, has nothing but coming of age/contemporary love stories, and this is yet another unwarranted expansion of his catalog.

Can someone please clarify whether this was meant to be a Love Story? Wasn't it supposed to bring competition to Hollywood superhero/comic book features? Didn't the trailer make it look like the next big leap for Indian Cinema? Mismarketing at its best! The guys who were in charge of the trailer had done an incredible job, you know why? Cause they successfully lured in naive people like us! Aargh! I feel so stupid.

Look, I'm all up for romance in a fantastically charged adventure feature, as long as they play out as catalysts but not the fundamental attribute of the narrative. I was anticipating a mesmerizing tale about these astras, and their powers, I wanted to find out more about the disciples of the 'Brahmansh', the people who are meant to protect the sanctity of this monumental pool of infinite 'Shaktis'.

While we do get some bits & pieces regarding this mythical world full of magic; the narrative for some odd reason decided to put all its emphasis on the chemistry of Ranbir & Alia rather than concentrating on the main topic! This approach would have functioned had the writing been corroborative! The dialogues are cringe, and even the performances from the lead pair were too melodramatic thus failing to gel altogether. I'd go as far as to say, I couldn't care less for the characters. Thankfully the gorgeous Visuals and stunning background music saved this ship from sinking.

P. S. The movie commences with SRK's cameo, and it was freaking fantastic! If only the rest of the film followed the same path!