Sadak 2 and Alia Bhatt’s performances are being ignored. It remains the sorriest blot on a filmography that includes Student of the Year and Kalank. While everyone acknowledged that she put herself in a compromised position on Sadak 2, since it was directed by her father Mahesh Bhatt decades past his prime, there is no excuse for the way Bhatt — often described as her generation’s most talented actor, someone who can’t deliver a bad performance even in Manyavar commercials — was treated in Brahmastra.
Brahmastra is a painful theatrical experience that can shatter both your eardrums and your will to live. It’s an overlong, incomprehensible movie that rips from Harry Potter, the MCU, Star Wars, and Avatar: The Last Airbender and thinks nobody will notice. Ayan Mukerji has so little respect for his audience (and so little faith in his film) that he spoon-feeds every last drop of explanation so loudly that you’ll leave the theatre confused and thinking in Sanskrit.
Sadak 2 and Alia Bhatt’s performances are being ignored. It remains the sorriest blot on a filmography that includes Student of the Year and Kalank. While everyone acknowledged that she put herself in a compromised position on Sadak 2, since it was directed by her father Mahesh Bhatt decades past his prime, there is no excuse for the way Bhatt — often described as her generation’s most talented actor, someone who can’t deliver a bad performance even in Manyavar commercials — was treated in Brahmastra.
Brahmastra is a painful theatrical experience that can shatter both your eardrums and your will to live. It’s an overlong, incomprehensible movie that rips from Harry Potter, the MCU, Star Wars, and Avatar: The Last Airbender and thinks nobody will notice. Ayan Mukerji has so little respect for his audience (and so little faith in his film) that he spoon-feeds every last drop of explanation so loudly that you’ll leave the theatre confused and thinking in Sanskrit.
When Isha sees Shiva playing with fire in Varanasi, he breaks his word. He explains he has a ‘Rishta’ with ‘aag’ From Isha’s expression, he might as well have informed her he has a ‘Rishta’ with another lady. Her fury is understandable. Shiva revealed to her he’s resistant to flames after promising no more secrets. Next is even more shocking.
Isha tells Shiva that she knows he’s special and that if fate has brought them together must do his bidding. This movie was undoubtedly conceived before anyone involved had heard the word “woke,” but writing like this would be outmoded even in Brahmastra’s age.
Isha tells Shiva that she knows he’s special and that if fate has brought them together, it’s her obligation to do his bidding. This movie was undoubtedly conceived before anyone involved had heard the word “woke,” but writing like this would be outmoded even in Brahmastra’s age.
Brahmastra portrays Isha and Shiva’s relationship story with all the care Karan Johar pays to the less-popular guest on his chat show. Bhatt is handled better on Koffee with Karan episodes she’s not in than in Brahmastra, a film that continually chants “mantras” to include her in the tale.
Brahmastra fails the Bechdel Test, but did Bhatt have no say over Isha in real life? Maybe she did, but no one listened. Mukerji plays Isha’s plot close to the vest, as do other components in the film. We shouldn’t judge a character based on their potential future storyline, but on the present one.
Bhatt’s career is soaring. Isha is the type of arm-candy character you’d see in Bollywood’s awful ‘hero-driven’ flicks. Brahmastra’s treatment of its female lead is simply one of many features it shares with the worst entertainment the industry has to offer.
