Brahmastra was announced in 2014, back when Alia was 4 films old, and Ranbir was dating another co-actor. Post multiple changes, the pandemic, and more changes, the film was finally released six years after its intended release of December 2016. So much has happened in the world since the announcement; Alia is now about 20+ films old, and now married to Ranbir. Anyhow, whatever the delay, what matters is the output. So, does part one of this trilogy deliver?

In one of the interviews, director Ayan Mukerji stated that he was fascinated by Hollywood action movies, particularly Marvel and other superhero films, and wanted to make Brahmastra on par with such films. He does make a grand film, yes, but what does grandeur do when you have a mediocre script and absolutely no idea or vision of what you want to showcase? You get a badly screen written and directed, incoherent dud!

Shiva, played by Ranbir, is a DJ in Mumbai. He is smitten by Isha (Alia) and stalks her on their second encounter, she acknowledges, they then go to his room where he shares his life story, she cries and holds his hand. Shiva suddenly has visions, acts strange, and asks her to leave. They meet the next day, he describes his visions and resolves to travel to Varanasi to aid someone. Isha decides to travel alongside him, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is their love story.

One day, not even 24 hours, is what it took for Isha to run away with Shiva, all based on what he told her. There is no information on her parents, what she does (but for she’s rich and is from London), no further information on DJ Shiva apart from what he tells her (he could be a stalker, psycho, murderer or anything), has a daura/seizure where he acts strange and pushes her away. But she still decides to travel with him saying Shiva ke saath Isha (Parvati) hamesha rahegi! 

This ridiculously shallow love story is the base for the plotline where they discover that love is the biggest astra of them all. Now don’t ask me what an astra is, or why Shiva has these episodes, visions or seizures (whatever you want to call them). You have to suffer like I did to find out more.

Ranbir and Alia are good on screen and their chemistry is apparent. But their underdeveloped characters make them look silly on multiple occasions. Some badly written dialogues don’t help either. Not just them, every character is underdeveloped and lacks a proper arc. Amitabh is alright as guruji but looks odd performing some of the action sequences. Shahrukh Khan and Nagarjuna do justice as keepers of Brahmastra. Dimple Kapadia is underutilized. The rest of the cast and casting is terrible. Mouni Roy is terrible as the lead on-screen antagonist for she does not have the stature or the persona to breathe life into the character. Her two minions were even more ridiculous.

Music by Pritam is passable. But for Kesariya, no other track makes an impact. The background music is not to the mark either. No comments on the editing by Prakash Kurup or the cinematography by a bunch of people; I feel there was nothing they could do to make this film better. For a movie with tons of money spent on VFX, the output is mediocre. 

Is it worth your time and money?: What happens when the director has no clarity or vision of what he wants? Brahmastra! Unless you have loads of patience and undying love for the lead pair, avoid this dud. I can’t believe it has two more parts to it. 

Worth mention: The only saving grace is the chemistry between Ranbir and Alia.

Acting: 6/10 
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 4/10 
Technical Aspects: 5/10

Verdict: 5/10

PS: I was sitting next to three VFX artists who worked on the film. They too were disappointed with the overall output (including the VFX), and spoke at length about how the director made them change the effects innumerable times over the years for he did not know what he wanted. 

On another note, they confirmed that Deepika plays Amrita, Shiva’s mom, and there is a possibility that his dad, Dev, is Ranveer Singh. Now that’s something! 

About 15 years ago, while watching Forrest Gump on TV, I pondered on how it would be if the movie was made in India, how the episodes could be adapted, and who could replace Tom Hanks. While I concluded that it’d be impossible to adapt the screenplay, I was sure that either Aamir Khan or Kamal Hassan could do justice to the role if it was ever done. Little did I know then that Atul Kulkarni was scripting Laal Singh Chaddha for Aamir at about the same time.

Let’s talk about screenplay first. Atul Kulkarni does a good job with what I thought was undoable, adapting the script for the Indian audience. From 1983 to the 2000’s, every major Indian event has been entwined perfectly into Laal’s journey. Yes, some of the elements from the original (such as ping pong and running into celebrities) are missing, but he does a commendable job. I loved the way the chaddi baniyan business turns out to be the largest knitwear brand in India.

Talking about the direction next. Forrest Gump is a classic, and it is difficult to helm the remake of such an iconic film. Advait Chandan, on his second directorial venture does a decent job, and brings out fine performances from all but one of his cast members. Yes, he fails big time directing one cast member and that might be the biggest drawback of this movie; his inability to direct the Khan!

As I said earlier, if anyone could replace Hanks, I thought it was Aamir. But I was wrong for he’s the one who spoils Laal Singh Chaddha. Forrest/Laal is a dim-witted character, but Aamir goes overboard by showcasing it as a disability. Enlarging his eyes for no reason, he does a combination of his act from PK and Dhoom 3. This might have been bearable if this were consistent, but no, every frame had a different pathetic expression. Not just from his films, he even tried to ape Mr. Bean in some episodes. And god alone know why he was humming and grunting in few scenes! 😠 Only if Advait could direct/manage him and bring out the same innocence and empathy he did from Ahmad Ibn Umar who played young Laal. Alas!

Another problem I had with the direction was how Advait handled some episodes of the film. The Army scenes were at times a mockery (loud screaming, etc.), and the chaddi baniyan arc was overdone. In the original, the friendship that Bubba and Forrest shared was genuine and honest, but that’s a miss in this one. Nuances!

It’s a cakewalk for Kareena Kapoor Khan who owns Rupa as her own.; she does full justice to the character. Mona Singh does a commendable job as Laal’s mother. Naga Chaitanya, in his Hindi debut, is good as Bala, but I thought he tried too much to be Bubba; only if he had made the character his own like Kareena did. Manav Vij makes an impact as Mohammad. The kids who play young Laal and Rupa (Ahmad Ibn Umar and Hafsa Ashraf) are brilliant.

Music by Pritam is good. I personally loved “Main Ki Karaan” and Sonu’s version of “Kahaani”. Editing by Hemanti Sarkar could have been better for the film seemed longer than it should be. Forrest Gump at 142 minutes had more meat in it than this 170 minutes film. The cinematography by Satyajit Pande (Setu) is great. The VFX team needs to be commended for the de-ageing job.

Is it worth your time and money?: If you walk in without expectations or haven’t watched the original, you might actually like the film. But for me, Aamir spoils the show. I ignored him on the screen to survive!

Worth mention: Every scene which didn’t have Aamir in it. 😑

Acting: 5/10 (it might have been 8 or 8.5 if it weren’t for Aamir!)
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 6/10 
Technical Aspects: 8/10

Verdict: 6.5/10