Shivam Bhaje Review – Ashwin Babu and Digangana Suryavanshi starrer Shivam Bhaje is part science thriller, past suspense drama, part supernatural with Lord Shiva becoming the central character who leads the humans on their journey towards defeating the evil
Chandra Sekhar (Ashwin Babu) is born in a devout family but circumstances and his father’s death make him an atheist who mocks the believers and question their faith in the concept of God and asks how an elephant head can be attached to a human body in order to make it alive. He works as a recovery agent, is all set to get his sister married. Meanwhile he meets a girl (Digangana) woos her and falls in love. And, as he continues to denounce God or anything spiritual – his mother continues to worship Shiva and even give money to the everyday cart that comes at the gate with a loud speaker and framed picture of Shiva. On the other side of this world are the head of China and the Lashkar-e-Taiba planning an attack on India, and they are brewing a mysterious formulation and a monstrous plan to destroy India.
The experiments that secretly happen in a lab lead to a series of murders. Meanwhile there are some major changes that happen in Chandu’s life, where he encounters a situation that leads him in a direction that no one foresees. Investigating these murders is the seemingly sincere ACP Murali. He also brings in one of the best dogs trained by Telangana Police – Dogra, which is one of the key links to the story.
The film takes a turn using the concept of Xeno Transplantation which is a scientific word for using animal parts in human body. And, the rest of the story is about how this leads the hero’s life towards faith in the super power of God, and how Lord Shiva himself plays a part in scheme of things.
The first half of the film sets the right tone with its good technical values, pacey editing, racy screenplay and apt background score – plus comedy by Hyper Aadi that mostly works and well-choreographed action sequences add to the excitement. And, this is despite the director Apsar trying earnestly to explain at every turn and twist how and why all the concepts that the film dwells upon– are scientifically proven and not figment of his imagination, and that includes a short social sciences lesson on Indo-China relations.
Post interval however, the story which is anyway running on a tight rope balancing the story lines in the process of bringing them to a logical end – slips on several counts. However by virtue of good technical team and dialogue writers the drama continues to engage the audience. And the director takes care not to leave loose ends and brings the movie to a hurried conclusion. While the climax sequence is brilliantly shot – the narration appears a bit rushed.
Shivam Bhaje Review
Long story short – Ashwin’s Shivam Bhaje is worth a watch despite the flaws. While it doesn’t promise to be brilliant piece of cinema – it will keep the audience glued to their seats nevertheless.
