POPCORN REVIEWSS

One of the interesting aspects of Mirai remains the characterization, particularly when the focus shifts to the early 2000s after a brief montage of the core concept. When you are introduced to Ambika (Shriya Saran), she resembles Subhadra from Mahabharata with Abhimanyu in her womb. And given that she is tasked with the protection of the nine mystical books, you immediately are acquainted of her superpowers. There is a sense of caution to her approach too, almost signalling an ominous presence in the future, even whilst she is told by a sage to give up her unborn child as a means of sacrifice to protect the world from the evil forces, and track the location of a Mirai – a magical stick with the powers of Lord Ram. It is interesting how she passes on this information to her unborn son Vedha (Teja Sajja), much like Subhadra had passed the art of fighting with Abhimanyu. In thar regard, the emotional core of the drama is a mother and son story!

The origin story of Vedha coincides with a quest to search for his presence, 24 years after the sacrifice made by Ambika. And here, the concept of time is used as a medium for threat even as the dark forces of Mahabir Llama (Manoj Manchu) threatens to take over the world. The concept of time is a two-fold medium here – accounting for the years of evil energy imbibed by Mahabir (whose flashback we see later on in the film) and having garnered access to 7 mystical books, and a ticking timer of safeguarding the remaining mystical books. The most important one remains the ninth book of inmortality – a similar parallel to the Infinity stones that Thanos needed to acquire in Avengers Endgame (2019).

When you are first introduced to Vedha, you see him busting a drug racket by mixing coriander in ‘Ganja’. It might seem like a frivolous plot-point, but the core idea remains on how he still inherits the righteousness of his mother, without knowing it himself. Yes, he is a thug but more in the robinhood space. In a scene, you see him letting go of some money from a Muslim mother-son duo that tells you too things – this story doesn’t discriminate the communities while drawing parallels with the core emotions of a mother and son. In that regard, the politics of the film isn’t that of hate but pure devotion, something that I always will stand for.

This goodness of Vedha is also highlighted by Vibha (Ritika Nayak), who is tasked to track him down in time. It is interesting how Vibha can read minds of the people but cannot penetrate the mind of Vedha, an early sign that he is the Chosen One. The template remains fixed – it is Vedha versus Mahabir essentially, or more specifically good versus bad, even as there are innovations employed during the first face-off between the characters, using sound as a weaponry. And this momentum extends to a conceptually superior and a visual spectacle at the halfway mark, that ties up an important Ramayana reference with respect to the protagonist, whilst further pushing him towards his goal of the Chosen One.

One of the criticisms that I had with the writing is the subplot involving a police investigation that literally goes nowhere. It is a straight up caricature, and almost used as a comic relief in the screenplay which then acts as a circuit breaker in the plot. It always remains a very specific issue – the need for comedy that isn’t always seamless in a grandeur of a film, that often acts as a distraction. We have seen it in films like Kalki 2898 AD and this is also the case here. This criticism is also linked to the issue that I had with the second hour wherein the drama gets repetitive and a little stretched in parts. To give you a perspective, if the entire police investigation part along with the comedy were to be removed from the screenplay, nothing really would change.

This is not to say that the second half is completely unbearable – in fact, it is more than watchable, particularly with specific sequences that are clapworthy. For instance, a sage teaching Vedha about the superpowers of Mirai that is riddled with devotion and good deeds, is a moment that will engulf you with plenty of emotions. Even the immediate action set-piece that ensues, doesn’t deviate from this core concept – often sticking to the sentiments of the scene prior to that. Even one of the core themes of sacrifice for the greater good of humanity, is wonderfully represented in a flashback that again doubles up as the origin story of the antagonist. It is a gentle good versus evil concept sprinkled right there too.

Another minor criticism was with respect to the events leading up to the finale, something that felt too convenient for my liking. For instance, Vedha’s tiff with the police was sorted in a matter of seconds (told you, the police investigation element just doesn’t work here), or even a divided focus on the antics of the antagonist at the Kumbh Mela. Yes, the concept of blind faith was an important cog in the screenplay, but it could have been conveyed with a little more focus. The focus however is on a train whose breaks have failed – a la Spiderman (2004), that lacked the novelty in the wake of a larger concept at play (read: blind faith). That said, the finale absolutely hits it out of the park with a Lord Ram reference that is dipped in devotion whike being visually striking. And a little setup at the end ensures that this may well be a full blown universe, which seems like an exciting proposition! If only the screenplay was a little more taut, this film would have been a knockout.