Brahmastra Part One Shiva #PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #internationalfilmfestivalcircuit #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews Film: #Brahmastra #PartOneShiva Runtime: 158 mins Genre: Superhero Fantasy Rating: * * * Cast: #RanbirKapoor #AliaBhatt #Nagarjuna #MouniRoy #AmitabhBachchan #DimpleKapadia #ShahRukhKhan Director: #AyanMukherjee #UniversalCommunicationsPR #WaltDisneyStudiosMotionPictures #KaranJohar Cinematography: #SudeepChatterjee #PankajKumar #VManikandan #PatrickDuroux #VikashNowlakha

A fairly engrossing and enjoyable superhero fantasy with a load full of thrills and action, this film may not be a fun every-minute spectacle but on the overall estimate, it does a fair job. The romance between Ranbir/Shiva and Alia/ Esha is palpable and the writers don’t have to do the hard work here because the audience is already invested in their love story. The myth-building about an Astraverse with X men like specialized skill sets is strong and the action does get the adrenaline gushing quite frequently. It’s the crummy, pithy dialogues and the not-so-great VFX (which lacks clarity and distinctiveness) that fall short. Considering the budget is approximately 450 crores, this doesn’t say much for the talents behind the VFX creation. The charming Ranbir and ‘darling’ Alia look good together and that lends validity to their instantaneous onscreen romance. Amitabh Bachchan’s booming voice and presence lend the narrative a strong pitch while Shah Rukh Khan’s lengthy opening cameo in which he is literally paying homage to #RaOne and Nagarjuna’s brief role opens up the film to a wider audience base. Mouni Roy’s ace villainy is also quite credible. I won’t speculate on whether this film will recover its costs but I will certainly recommend it for a one-time watch. The young Ayan Mukherjee must be given due credit for conceptualizing such a humungous venture and getting #Dharmatic on board. This is a first even if it’s not the best it could have been!