Brahmastra Trailer! I’m Just So Tired

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Well, now we have a hint of plot. And it’s not….great. You know what is missing? A sense of humor. You have to have a sense of humor in these kinds of things or it just doesn’t work. You need that classic Marvel acknowledgement meta joke of “this is super weird, right?”

Well, when this movie was first announced, eons ago, I thought “Ayan Mukherjee? Doing a superhero movie?” And now I have seen the trailer and that is still my thought. When you are doing Epic, you either need to commit 100% (Bahubali) or have that little bit of a sense of humor about it mixed in (A Flying Jatt, Minnal Murali, Mr. India, Ra. One, Koi Mil Gaya). Ayan is a great writer and a great director, but he doesn’t do funny. And he also doesn’t do Epic. So how was this going to work?

Watching the trailer, this feels like the kind of movie that could make a lot of money on initial release, that people could love for the epic visuals and so on, but which I don’t think anyone will want to re-watch once it is out of theaters. We have the classic Ranbir over-acted love at first sight, some complicated mythology, and some pretty cool spell effects, but I’m not getting “fun”, you know? Even Bahubali was just FUN in a lot of parts, and RRR had a freakin’ DANCE OFF in the middle of it!

Biggest mistake, they cheaped out on the villain. This is just filmmaking 101, you gotta have a really strong actor/character for the hero, and an equally strong actor/character for the villain. Mouni Roy is fine, but you need a Jackie Shroff. Or Kay Kay Menon, or Shabana Azmi, or Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

Oh, and Ranbir doesn’t seem to have anything bad happen to him. ALSO vitally important for an Epic Hero! He’s just a doof who falls in love with Alia, and has Magic Fire Powers.

This could still be a great movie that addresses all my questions, but I will say for sure it is a baaaaaaaaaaaaad trailer. It needs one line of pure humor in there somewhere, it needs a quick flash of something scary/bad happening to our hero so we care about him, and it needs a way better intro for the villain.

What do you think?

32 thoughts on “Brahmastra Trailer! I’m Just So Tired”

  1. I must admit that I’m pleasantly surprised by the trailer. There were moments when I was thinking: Oh, it looks like Jaani Dushman! Oh now it’s The Last Airbender! etc.. But in the end I didn’t mind, and maybe if I weren’t in Ranbir hate club I would buy a ticket.

    The only thing I don’t understand is : why Mouni Roy? Strange casting. We have Ranbir, Alia, Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna and …Mouni Roy. Maybe she is great, but who knows, she has done like 3 movies nobody watched (and in 2018 she has been only in one punjabi movie).

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    • Yeah, I think it wouldn’t kill me to watch this, could be an enjoyable summer blockbuster. But maybe not re-watching it. And Mouni roy???? I’m assuming being a villain is a big time commitment, so maybe all the Good Actors weren’t willing to do it? But then, that’s kind of a bad sign for the script. Or the production decisions, just do like Bang Bang and bring in Danny for 10 minutes because it’s worth it.

      On Wed, Jun 15, 2022 at 9:56 AM dontcallitbollywood < comment-reply@wordpress.com> wrote:

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      • Oh, I remember what else this trailer reminded me about – Kalank. In the beggining when Ranbir is shown from behind, all happy and tittuppy I was : Oh just like Alia in Kalank!
        So we have: Kalank, Jaani Dushman and The Last Airbender. And now that I think about it all those were giant flops we still talk about because of how terrible they were.

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        • Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. And I think Last Airbender might be the closest, my understanding is that every other Airbender property has been a huge hit (Manga, TV shows, other TV shows, etc.). But then the movie was trying to do all this stuff all at once without any mythology built up or stuff. And this looks the same, like we are supposed to go “ooooo, he’s an Astra” and we don’t even know what this is yet.

          On Wed, Jun 15, 2022 at 10:32 AM dontcallitbollywood < comment-reply@wordpress.com> wrote:

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          • EXACTLY! What’s an Astra. Why should I care about this? I don’t mind movies that show the beginnings of a superhero but there needs to be a story. And exactly, Mouini Roy might be perfectly fine, but if you have worked so hard to bring in such big wigs in the protagonist role, bring in a big wig for even 10 minutes in a villain role. Bring in Danny or Jackie, like you said.

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  2. YES to everything you just said. It is just one giant special effect with no real story to it. Also, again, Ayan’s focus on Ranbir is too much. Everyone, including Alia and Amitabh are there just to prop Ranbir up and he is just not enigmatic enough for me to care about or root for. Also, if this movie bombs, are they still making parts 2 and 3 since Part 1 is in the name of the movie? That’s an awful lot of confidence for something that has been a disaster from the start.

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    • Also, maybe they will do this with the movie, but I felt like they needed a longer lead explaining what is happening with the Astras? If you are going to introduce a new universe then let me know the history. Give me something to pull me into this universe. Give me a back story.

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      • YES!!!! But, like, in a good way. Because that can be another problem with First Movies, spending so long setting up the universe that everyone runs out of interest.

        On Wed, Jun 15, 2022 at 10:01 AM dontcallitbollywood < comment-reply@wordpress.com> wrote:

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    • YES!!!! Especially because it looks like this whole movie is just setting stuff up for later movies. Who is going to enjoy a set-up movie? You gotta be open to the possibility of closing the story in one film. Like Ra.One, could have been the start of a trilogy, but also works as a standalone.

      On Wed, Jun 15, 2022 at 9:57 AM dontcallitbollywood < comment-reply@wordpress.com> wrote:

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    • I’m thinking that maybe they put so many special effects to show why it took so long. Yes, there is almost no normal scene in the trailer, but at this point they couldn’t show us boring normal stuff. After so many years it must be full of fireworks. I’m really too kind with this trailer today.

      But I agree, everyone is there for Ranbir. And also in my opinion there is zero chemistry between Alia and Ranbir and this is the biggest problem for me.

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      • Yes! It felt like they HAD to show the special effects to justify the disaster that has been the making of this movie. This is all fireworks with no substance and if that was going to be the case then add a sense of humor so we know what we are getting into.

        And there has never been any chemistry between Ranbir and Alia. That’s been one of my big issues with them acting together. It’s like they are trying to hard to create magic that just isn’t there.

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  4. Yea, agreeing with Angie above that it might be more towards the fantasy line than pure superhero stuff, though it benefits from being set in the modern-day with that association. I just want there to be something more than just Ranbir Ranbir Ranbir, and Alia there only being in concern for him, being romanced by him, and being all lovey-dovey. Like, what does she do? What is her occupation? Does she do more than that in the plot? That concerns me. I just wanted more out of her character AT LEAST in the trailer. Considering how good Ayan is usually with women characters, this feels concerning. On the other hand, I am very interested in Moun Roy and her Evil (NOT) Scarlet Witch get-up. If Alia is going to be pure pureness in the script, then she will at least be interesting as the Villain.

    Yes, all the big stuff is EPIC, but the lack of interaction between any other characters other than Amitabh and Alia, really makes it seem insular. Like, show us the funny sidekick, the nerd or some of the other students interacting with the main characters so that there is more humanity in it, not just special effects.

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    • YES!!! You articulated my issue with Alia’s character in the film. Alia is an AMAZING actress. Give her a backstory, an occupation, a purpose. Show her nerdy side, or her badass side. Show her as something other than just there to be Ranbir’s love interest. Maybe they will do a better job in the movie.

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  5. I think I’m gonna have to respectfully disagree with you here. I do think the trailer looks dumb and I hope the whole movie wont just be about telling the audience who’s who over something like Bahubali which had an actual plot.

    However I do feel the plot does have potential and can be something great. While Ranbir’s performance I feel will be very bland as the character seems to be like a y/n kind of character. However I have a feeling the supporting cast Nagarjuna, Amitabh and Mouni will be the ones to save the cast. I always felt like Mouni has potential as an actress and hope that this role will show the potential I see in her. If not then I feel the film will fail as the film is not relying on Ranbir’s performance but more on Mouni.

    I don’t know perhaps I’m too hopeful but I want this film to do well as there’s so much money/time/ people’s hard work (beyond Ranbir+Ayan) resting on it. I wouldn’t say I’m as negative as you are but I’m not too optimistic. I’m trying my best to just walk in on September 9th (if nothing happens) with excitement and get blown away. As I really want Indian cinema to invest more in homegrown stories then remakes. To use Indian mythology/literature and generally invest more in being unique than being always trying to live up to Hollywood. I just feel while this does give me a bit of feeling that it’ll be a similar essence to Hollywood movies, I do hope this will encourage more directors/producers to invest/create these stories over the remakes that have been flooding Hindi cinema currently.

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    • You can never be too hopeful!!!! I hope all your wishes come true too, especially that Mouni is the break out. I got most excited for her in the trailer, but that was just because she seemed to be th eonly person in a costume and make-up. Everyone else was dull dull dull regular clothes.

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      • I love Mouni too and hope she gets the best out of her everyone. I agree that I shouldn’t be too hopeful as I was very hopeful about Zero and we know how that ended up too. I wonder why with all the Indian mythology influence, they couldn’t make clothes inspired by ancient Indian clothes similar to how Superman movies have European armor references. It would be so much more interesting than the boring shirts I saw. Seriously this is my fear that Ayan’s realistic style will not be able to embrace the fantasy aspect of the movie.

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    • I love the idea of Indian cinema investing more in homegrown stories than remakes also. I am really really hoping you are right and that the movie is a success and this was just a weird trailer. I am hoping I can make it to the first show also.

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  9. I feel like all my thoughts were articulated by other people. Seems like one big special effects show with no substance. My biggest gripe with the trailer is that everyone is there to prop this Chosen One Ranbir up, especially Alia. As a huge fan of hers, you would think she would want to do more with this kind of movie besides make lovey dovey eyes at her now husband (still feels weird and gross to say, their chemistry is non existent). I like Mouni though. When she said “Bramhastra” all echo-ey, I got chills. India has so much potential to make a really good fantasy story (this was always a fantasy movie in my eyes, not superhero). But I have a bad feeling this is gonna bomb. Wouldn’t be surprised if parts 2 and 3 end up getting shelved as well.

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    • Epic story, Indian or Greek or Anything, needs character tension, right? Like, Star Wars, you had mentor-mentee, father and son, best friends love triangle, all kinds of tension. And Bahubali was just exploding with that kind of tension. That’s what makes all the spectacle work. Heck, even Krrish has that! Father-son stuff, and husband wife stuff, and things. But this? It’s just Ranbir being awesome and everyone agreeing that he is awesome.

      On Tue, Jun 21, 2022 at 1:17 PM dontcallitbollywood < comment-reply@wordpress.com> wrote:

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