Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva Review (2022): Unbelievably Bad!

The costliest Bollywood movie to date, Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva, is the first installment of a planned Astraverse trilogy, with the remaining two scheduled to release in the coming years. Directed by Ayan Mukerji, the film stars Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in the lead roles, with Amitabh Bachchan, Mouni Roy, and Nagarjuna playing the supporting characters. With sky-high expectations and an ensemble featuring a couple of surprising cameos, this movie had a lot riding on its shoulders, especially with the current Boycott Bollywood hashtags trending on social media.

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I don’t know even know where to start with this movie, but the storyline of Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva begins with Junoon (Mouni Roy) and her sidekicks trying to get hold of the Brahmastra, and she goes through a consistent barrage of obstacles and people with superpowers. Eventually, Shiva (Ranbir Kapoor), a DJ who possesses a strange connection with the element of fire, and his “instant” girlfriend, Isha (Alia Bhatt), get caught in the crossfire and attempt to end Junoon’s mission.

So, let’s start on a positive note and give credit where credit’s due. The visual effects in Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva are super impressive for an Indian film. And that is where I’m guessing most of the budget went to, and I’m predicting that this movie costed a lot more than the announced 410 crores. The color pattern blended with the creativity of the VFX team brought together some of the most striking visuals I’ve ever seen on the big screen. Although I had a problem with the amount of CGI used in the film, but, we can save that argument for later.

The production design by Amrita Mahal was something to marvel at, and I sometimes couldn’t believe the amount of money they spent on individual set pieces that lasted for a single scene and could’ve easily been avoided. But the goal to make this Bollywood’s most expensive film ever is obvious from the very first scene, and the entire team should be commended for going all in. Beyond that, I hated everything else about this movie.

Let’s alleviate the cringe-heavy romance angle between the lead couple first. So, when you clearly market the film to be a part of the Astraverse by placing a big ass graphic during the opening credits (brings me flashbacks of the entire Dark Universe debacle by Universal Studios), I expect it to focus on the Astras side of the story. However, for some reason, the love story is an integral part, and they try to justify it in the end by making no sense. It is, without a doubt, the most annoying part of the film. And I couldn’t believe the real-life couple, Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, couldn’t click with their on-screen romance and seemed so out-of-place.

The writing didn’t do any favors for their awkward interactions cause their love story did not make sense from the get-go. The manner in which they fell in love instantly and the number of red flags Alia’s character comes across up till the first proposal, yet she continues to pursue this “destined” relationship, it felt quite unnatural. Furthermore, the dialogues written by Hussain Dalal are equally bad, as I laughed out loud during multiple intense sequences between the lead couple. Let me end this tirade by saying this, for a story heavily influenced by “Love,” there is zero emotional connection, at least for me, and that is exactly where this movie lost me.

But, as I mentioned before, the Astraverse concept has some weight, but the way Ayan Mukerji directed the movie and the screenplay felt ordinary. Particularly, if you’ve watched Hollywood films like Avengers: Infinity War and Interstellar, you could tell where the inspirations came from. But the film could’ve still managed to pull through with intriguing characters that had some depth and didn’t get axed within a few minutes. Take RRR, KGF, or Pushpa as prime examples — these movies primarily worked due to the characters, and Brahmastra felt flat as far as basic writing goes.

The music by Pritam, excluding Kesariya and Deva Deva, is very average and did not leave any lasting impact. Simon Franglen’s background score had a single good track, and that’s about it. Now, contrary to everyone’s opinion, I will go ahead and stick my head out. In my opinion, the actor’s performances in Brahmastra are just bad all around. With a talented cast featuring Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna, Mouni Roy, and others, I expected some better performances, and I could only blame the Ayan Mukerji for this, for not writing better lines and not being able to bring the best out of them.

Overall, Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva is backed well by the core concept, stellar visual effects, and splendid production design, for which you could very well be satisfied. But the dialogues, the screenplay, the unnecessary romance, the characters, and the performances are just unbelievably bad and will mar the overall vibe and the big-screen experience. In Bollywood, where films like Krrish 3 and Dhoom 3 worked well at the box office, I could actually see this movie working. Let me end my review by reciting a few wise words from the legendary Indian actor Kamal Haasan:

“When the trash is treated as good and mediocre as excellent, even a slightly notable work seems like genius.”

‘Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva’ Rating – 2/5