Mumbai: The Bollywood film Brahmastra Part One Shiva- a fantasy action-adventure film, written and directed by Ayan Mukerji and released in theatres on Friday, however film pundits have different versions towards the movie's approach at the box office.
Notably, among others boycotting the mega-starrer movie, Kangana Ranaut too joined those panning the film and said director Ayan Mukerji has "burnt 600 crores to ashes".
Kangana took to her Instagram story and first slammed Karan Johar. The actor wrote, "People like Karan Johar should be questioned for their conduct. He is more interested in everyone's sex life than in his films scripts. He self admittedly buys reviews, stars, and fake collection numbers and tickets. This time around he tried to ride Hinduism and south wave." She then accused Karan of begging south actors and directors to promote his film Brahmastra.
It is to be mentioned here that, the film has comic-book-styled visuals, and Amitabh Bachchan's baritone, the film sets up its premise and the origin of its universe in an interesting manner. Brahmastra: Part One: Shiva relies heavily on two aspects - its visual effects and the love story of its lead pair, Shiva and Isha, played by Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. The film scores a great deal on visual effects. It's well-thought-out, top-notched and effective in most places. For instance, the culmination of the pre-interval scenes is a spectacle.
Even though the movie had the potential and the room for it, the film doesn't score brownie points for the love story of its lead couple which forms the thrust of the narrative here. In fact, it doesn't seem plausible from the word go which weakens the film at its core in a big way. As a result, the larger story playing out in the film also feels weak and the screenplay suffers, too. The dialogues aren't able to salvage much either. Towards the latter part, the runtime begins to feel tedious. The narrative could have been balanced better between the two halves of the film. And though the songs are pleasing to the ears, at times, their presence affects the momentum of the narrative.
The film was released with a budget of 410 Crore. However, during the week before release, both PVR Cinemas and INOX Leisure witnessed a growth of 2-4% in their share prices. However, now we hear that post the release of Brahmastra both stocks have seen a drop.
As per reports, both PVR Cinemas and INOX Leisure have seen a 5% drop in share prices ending at Rs 1,833 and Rs 494 respectively on the NSE (National Stock Exchange). Currently, this drop in prices is being attributed to the fact that Brahmastra which was heralded as the biggest release this year, received more negative reviews than positive. Given the less than appreciative reactions the film has received, its overall business prospects have also taken a hit. This sudden revaluation of the film's box office potential is being attributed as the root cause of the lowered prices PVR and INOX have seen. If that wasn't all, the stocks also dragged Nifty Media 0.13 percent lower.
As for the film, Brahmastra which has been in the making for a while now, released on Friday across 8,913 screens, India - 5019; Overseas - 3894 still counting. Expected to be one of the biggest money spinners this year, the film witnessed a good spate of advance bookings, however, the lackluster reviews have taken a toll on the film's overall business prospects.
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