Why Brahmastra deserves to be looked beyond the boycott culture of Bollywood?

Dreams do come true! Ayan Mukerji envisioned the dazzling dream called _Brahmastra_ all the way back in 2011, the official announcement was made in 2014, the release date was changed twice over, once in 2019 and the other time in 2020. The film now stands for a release on September 9 this year. In an informal meet and greet with the filmmaker at the trailer launch on June 14, he told me a lot of people from the crew left the film during the pandemic. Some eyes may have disappeared but the vision stayed intact. [caption id=“attachment_11109531” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Stills from Brahmastra[/caption] We have been complaining about Hindi films not being rooted. Brahmastra is. It narrates the tale of the biggest Astra of them all- The Brahmastra. The hero, played by the filmmaker’s closest friend in the industry Ranbir Kapoor , is a man named Shiva. Is he a Superhero? Maybe. He has a strange connection with fire. Memes that surfaced on social media out of this one line aside, Mukerji could play around this idea with oodles of imagination on the big screen. The songs capture the essence of the story and the spectacular effects the team at Dharma has created. [caption id=“attachment_11109571” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Stills from Kesariya song[/caption] If we can root for Pushpa , KGF, and RRR for their rustic charm and mythological madness, Brahmastra deserves equal chances of viewership as the narrative here stems from our own mythological magic. Amalgamating the Indian folklore with Hollywood-style visual effects is both ambitious and arduous of Mukerji. Why would people want to boycott Brahmastra? Why sudden disdain for Hindi cinema? Personal grudges have resurfaced ever since certain interviews of celebrities have gone viral on social media. Alia Bhatt nearly walked the path of Kareena Kapoor Khan and asked people not to watch her if they don’t feel the need to, unintelligibly and unintentionally adding fuel to the fire. Alas, the fire was lit on social media when it actually needs to be at the box-office. [caption id=“attachment_11109581” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] KGF, Pushpa, RRR posters[/caption] Going by the reactions on social media, the supposed juggernauts turned out to be jaded and jarring this year. Samrat Prithviraj bombed due to an unconvincing lead pair and underwhelming battle sequences. Raksha Bandhan failed as the audiences and critics felt it was too regressive and primitive. Shamshera sank without a trace, and the credit here goes to a desperate juxtaposition of KGF, Baahubali, and Mad Max Fury. No fun in this fury, though. [caption id=“attachment_11109591” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Raksha Bandhan and Shamshera posters[/caption] If the debate on Twitter is anything to go by, ardent fans and connoisseurs of cinema are in dire need of what we call something hatke. Brahmastra dares to give the audience something hatke. Will they reciprocate with as much aplomb and applause? Will the team’s vision grab as many eyeballs? Or are we going to see hashtag BoycottBrahmastra till the time the film opens in the cinemas? Is it time to throw this hashtag in the bin? I interviewed Karan Johar few weeks back and before my turn, I could see him interacting with a senior film journalist. Upon being asked about the unexpected arrival of this new trend, Johar quipped in no time- Boycott boycott. You decide! Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram