Box office: Divine intervention

Ranbir Kapoor in 'Brahmastra', which releases in theatres on September 9, 2022.

How the Hindi film industry resuscitates after the successive failure of three big-budget Hindi films—Shamshera, Laal Singh Chaddha and Liger—in the last two months, will depend a lot on how Ayan Mukherji’s Brahmāstra: Part One - Shiva opens at the box office and how the film resonates with movie lovers across the country.

One of the most expensive films every produced out of India, reportedly with a budget of Rs 300-plus crore, Brahmāstra has Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Mouni Roy, Amitabh Bachchan and Nagarjuna in the main cast and releases on September 9.

It’s a release as wide across formats and screens as it’s possible: In 3D, IMAX 3D, and 4DX 3D; and in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada across 3,000-plus screens. S.S. Rajamouli will present the film in the four South Indian languages. The first film in a planned trilogy as part of its own cinematic universe called Astraverse, Kapoor plays the protagonist Shiva, a DJ whom fire can’t burn or singe. He also holds the power to awaken the brahmāstra, a supernatural weapon that can destroy the universe. Junoon, “a queen of dark forces” played by Mouni Roy, is also on a quest to get hold of the brahmāstra. It has been described by makers as an origin story about India.

Also read: SS Rajamouli: "What really moves me and drives me are big-scale epics"

Ever since it has become obvious that OTTs have almost killed the market for smaller-budget Hindi and other Indian language films in theatres, film producers both from the South as well as Bollywood studios have turned to mythology. Mythological films haven’t had as much success in any other film-loving countries and cultures as they have in India. Now, when it’s obvious the theatre experience has to offer something much more than a story, immersive spectacles are being seen as safe bets. So for filmmakers it is convenient as well as ambitious to attempt stories from Hindu mythology with big mounting prospects for different formats of the film-viewing experience.

One of the earliest Hindu mythology blockbusters in India was Vijay Sharma’s Jai Santoshi Maa (1975), a story of devotion and divine miracles done in a pulpy style of exaggerated emotions that was already in vogue in South Indian films. MGR in Tamil, NTR in Telugu, Rajkumar in Kannada or Prem Nazeer in Malayalam—all of these were the demi-gods of their times, film stars whom people worshipped, giving equal stature to them as their deities, and their roles becoming instrumental in gaining mileage in their subsequent political careers.

Going by the slate of big-budget Hindu mythologicals planned for release till the end of 2023, with around Rs2,000 crore, riding on them, it will be a test for producers and filmmakers that will decide whether mythologicals still can translate to profitable big screen experiences.

Also read: IMAX, Qube EPIQ, PVR P[XL] - the business of premium large screen format cinemas in India

The first multi-language big release after Brahmāstra, on 30 September, is Mani Ratnam’s dream project Ponniyin Selvan. Based on Kalki Krishnamurthy’s 1955 novel Ponniyin Selvan, this is the second attempt in Tamil cinema to adapt the book, replete with intrigues, sacrifices, victories and betrayals in the Chola dynasty. Made at an estimated budget of Rs500 crore, Ponniyin Selvan has Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shobita Dhulipala, Trisha and Amitabh Bachchan in the main roles. The production of Ponniyin Selvan kick-started in November last year and a major chunk of its shoot has been wrapped up already. It will be released in two-parts like Baahubali in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages. A.R. Rahman has composed the music and Ravi Varman is the cinematographer.

Made with as big a budget as Ponniyin Selvan in two parts, with the first part releasing on January 12, 2023, is Adipurush, based on the Ramayana, which was shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu. Om Raut who earlier directed the Ajay Devgn-starrer Tanhaji - The Unsung Warrior, is directing Telugu star Prabhas in the role of Ram and Saif Ali Khan in the role of Raavan.

Abhishek Sharma, who directed Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran, has helmed Ram Setu, an adventure drama made with a budget of around Rs 90 crore, with Akshay Kumar in the lead role as an archaeologist who investigates the nature of the Ram Setu, the bridge linking Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka’s Mannar Island. Shot in Ayodhya, Ram Setu is this year’s big-ticket Diwali release (October 24).

In various stage of production are five more films, scheduled to release in the next one to two years. First there's The Immortal Ashwatthama: actor Vicky Kaushal (to play the lead role), director Aditya Dhar and producer Ronnie Screwvala have come together for the multi-crore budget film on the eponymous Mahabharata character, Guru Dronacharya’s son who fought on the Kauravas side in the battle of Kurukshetra.

Second, a Rs 700 crore-plus budget Ramayana, a live-action trilogy in 3D, to be produced by Allu Aravind, Madhu Mantena and Namit Malhotra and directed by Nitesh Tiwari (Dangal) and Ravi Udyawar (Mom).

Third, the Madhu Mantena-produced Draupadi with Deepika Padukone in the lead role.

Fourth, a biopic of Suheldev, based on Amish Tripathi’s book and with Ajay Devgn in the lead role, about a warrior king from Shravasti, Uttar Pradesh, who defeated Mahmud of Ghazni in the Battle of Bahraich in 11th century AD and reconstructed the Somnath Temple, which was earlier demolished by Ghazni.

And fifth, Hiranyakashyap, with a Rs 150 crore-plus budget, for which actor Rana Daggubati and director Gunashekhar have come together again after the smash hit Rudhramadevi, based on the mythology around the demon king Hiranyakashyap.

For the Hindu mythological to work, storytelling finesse and performances are going to be the main indices of success, as the last few months have proved. A star and a budget alone can no longer make a film sing at the Indian box office.