Brahmastra review: This flick is all about stars and the high decibels of the universe

Hyderabad: Having toiled for over half a decade Ayan Mukherjee ensures that all that he has handled or got along is added to a narration of over two hours and half. He bites much more than he can chew. He gives his editor a vacation and is out of sync with times when the audience begins to yawn after 120 minutes. The top of the notch VFX is the critical factor or the USP of the film but even that gets submerged in this tale of the elements the stars and the high decibels of the universe not to mention the stars in our own galaxy .

However, the film dares and that in itself is an interesting attribute to mainstream cinema. Ayan’s moneybags have been liberal and the visuals tell you that.

Bad elements headed by Junoon ( Mouni Roy) is out to get the detached portion of the Brahmastra from its three present generation possessors: scientist Mohan ( Shahrukh Khan – caught between the stunt man and his signature ham), Anish Shetty (Nagarjuna – a prey to his limitations and the script) and the third the main destroyer in chief of her greed Shiva ( Ranbir Kapoor).

The connect to the distant past and the immediate is Guruji (Amitabh Bachchan). Shiva takes a long while to move on being a DJ who is in love with Isha (Alia Bhat), a rich London passport holding girl who sets the example to keep your common sense in cold storage for about three hours and persuades the audience to follow suit.

The entire story runs either on the destructive capacities of Junoon and her gang seeking strength from Brahma Dev, her Guru who we do know about, or the romance of Shiva and Isha in the midst of chawls and superhuman fights. Most often the narrative is completely taken over by screen effects and stunts and fights .

The advantage with a story of this kind is that you do not ask common place questions based on logic or reasoning. This includes the grammar of a film and its narrative lines including time and space. Here anything can happen at the will of the super powerful elements which include a whim of the director, the urge of the stuntman, the imagination of the thrills in-charge, the enthusiasm of the music director and the collective perception of what the audience wants. For effects, you are watching the film on 3D with the aid of the spectacles that makes for some additional interest.

What works for the film is the novelty of the story and have it woven around contemporary times. Technology takes over and for a generation that loves it and sees it even so often in cinema from the west, this is a message of Make in India. What does not work is certainly the onerous length of the film. Save us from such long narrative more so when the sequel is in the making. The script is very haphazard and meanders often. The fights get weary after a while and since the route to the finale is all pebbled with fights there is nothing to add in the finale except that you know that it s time for a climax.

While Amitabh is a far cry from the man we know him to be, perhaps it is writing on the wall that the actor in him is aging and not really growing. Ranbir is full of beans. It is wonderful to see him add soul to his character unlike Shamshera. He carries this quasi super natural film on his shoulder and gives it credibility and all this without harming his image of a lover boy with high emotive skill sets. His screen chemistry with Alia Bhatt is top class. She too gives the film some inspiring moments. It is shocking that Dimple Kapadia is given a role which even a junior artist would not accept .

One important reason for watching the movie would be the craft of the lead pair, their honesty and their spirit overcomes many a shortcoming. The novelty of the idea – albeit convoluted calls for some indulgence. Interestingly at least at first look, the “boycott brigade“ seems to have not succeeded. Is this the turning point at the box office? The answer may well be hidden in the next couple of days.