Shivam Bhaje Movie Review

Ashwin Babu’s Shivam Bhaje released today. This action entertainer with a spiritual twist is hitting theaters a year after the release of Hidimbha. Much like Hidimbha, Shivam Bhaje is also a concept-based film. Arbaaz Khan, who made his Telugu debut in 2005 with Jai Chiranjeeva, is also playing an important role in Shivam Bhaje.

What is it about?

Top leaders in China and top militants in Pakistan have joined hands to destroy India in a high-stakes plan that involves biological terrorism. Ashwin Babu plays Chandu, a small-time insurance agent who loses his faith in god after his father’s demise. There are also a series of murders with the same M.O. being investigated by ACP Murali (Arbaaz Khan). How are these three stories connected? How is the deity Shiva a part of this story? When everything turns against him, will Chandu still rise up to save the day?

Performances

Ashwin Babu sometimes goes overboard with his performance in the film. It is hard to say if it is the writing’s fault or his but Ashwin. This was the same problem with Hidimbha as well.

To people familiar with Arbaaz Khan’s work in Bollywood, his presence may provide star value but otherwise there isn’t much impact he personally gets to the role. The casting of Arbaaz Khan in this role is pretty stereotypical.

Female lead Digangana Suryavanshi has little to perform, she shares a passing resemblance to Catherine Tresa and Anu Emmanuel.

Brahmaji shines in his brief role. Hyper Aadi provides comic relief to the film. Murali Sharma, Tanikella Bharani, Tulasi and others, provide heft to their roles with their limited yet impactful presence.

Technicalities

Shivam Bhaje’s story is very ambitious but their limited budget does not do enough justice for what’s on paper. The China and Pakistan sub-plots have poor production quality, as does the few VFX portions involving Shiva. The cinematography is an eyesore as well, with objects looking gigantic while the frames are flat and generic. Every other technical aspect of this film is just generic and unmemorable.

Thumbs-up

Concept
Hyper Aadi & Brahmaji comedy

Thumbs-down

Screenplay
Songs
Direction
Love Track

Analysis

First off, the film feels 10 hours long due to its sluggish treatment and storytelling that takes the audience for granted. Technically speaking, a thriller has to have different parts of the story make sense in the ending as they come together to give overarching meaning and closure to the rest of the story.

But many Tollywood writers have misunderstood this assignment. As a result, we have an otherwise simple story broken into innumerable plots, rearranged and scattered across the two hour runtime in a haphazard fashion. Shivam Bhaje raises this shortcoming to a confusing, frustrating extreme. There are way too many subplots coming in and out.

There is some shock value in the film, especially in the interval block. The film also reinterprets Pashupati, an avatar of Shiva, in a contemporary manner, through the character of Chandu. Though these ideas sound exciting at a conceptual level, the execution plays games with the audience’s patience. The screenplay is not smooth enough and leaves many loopholes, expecting the audience to catch up on their own.

Final Verdict: Even Shiva Can’t Save It

Rating: 1.75/5

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