movie review of ram setu

Thanks For Rating

Reminder successfully set, select a city.

• Nashik Times
• Aurangabad Times
• Badlapur Times

You can change your city from here. We serve personalized stories based on the selected city

• Edit Profile
• Briefs Movies TV Web Series Lifestyle Trending Medithon Visual Stories Music Events Videos Theatre Photos Gaming

Decoding the ‘Revolving Chair’ of Yash’s heroine in Toxic

Farah Khan and Ananya Panday's fun reel will leave you in splits

Review: Ae Watan Mere Wala - 3/5

​5 memorable films of Rani Mukerji​

Alan Walker congratulates Virat Kohli on welcoming son Akaay with Anushka Sharma

Rani Mukerji Birthday: Kajol to Kiara Advani; celebs send wishes to actress

• Movie Reviews

Movie Listings

Mr. & Mrs. Mahi

Bastar: The Naxal Stor...

Daket Of Dholpur

Prem Aur Ishq

Tera Kya Hoga Lovely

Nimisha Sajayan's most alluring photos!

Tamannaah Bhatia makes a case for high-shine dressing in a stunning pastel pink gown

9 Times Sargun Mehta radiated charm in a yellow attire

Rukmini Vasanth's captivating pictures

Sayali Sanjeev's Best Looks

Sobhita Dhulipala breathes fashion

Maira Doshi's versatile style

Aamna Sharif slays in glamorous lehenga looks

​Radiant looks of Vani Bhojan​

Tamannaah Bhatia is an absolute fashionista

Kung Fu Panda 4

To Kill A Tiger

All Of Us Strangers

The Color Purple

Ricky Stanicky

May December

Aansplaining

Yaavarum Vallavare

Amigo Garage

Unarvugal Thodarkadhai

Singappenney

Arimapatti Sakthivel

Nalla Perai Vaanga Vend...

Happy Ending

Bhoothaddam Bhaskar Nar...

Operation Valentine

Siddharth Roy

Sundaram Master

Ooru Peru Bhairavakona

Jananam 1947 Pranayam T...

Manjummel Boys

Anweshippin Kandethum

Malaikottai Valiban

Vivekanandan Viralanu

Abraham Ozler

Karataka Damanaka

Matsyagandha

Mr.Natwarlal

For Regn: For Registrat...

Shakhahaari

Bonbibi: Widows Of The ...

Pariah Volume 1: Every ...

Shri Swapankumarer Bada...

Manush: Child of Destin...

Bogla Mama Jug Jug Jiyo

Ektu Sore Boshun

Jongole Mitin Mashi

Sarabha: Cry For Freedo...

Zindagi Zindabaad

Maujaan Hi Maujaan

Chidiyan Da Chamba

White Punjab

Any How Mitti Pao

Gaddi Jaandi Ae Chalaan...

Buhe Bariyan

Aata Vel Zaali

Shivrayancha Chhava

Delivery Boy

Sridevi Prasanna

Sur Lagu De

Chhatrapati Sambhaji

Navardev: Bsc. Agri

Devra Pe Manva Dole

Dil Ta Pagal Hola

Ittaa Kittaa

Jaishree Krishh

Bushirt T-shirt

Shubh Yatra

Your Rating

Write a review (optional).

• Movie Reviews /

Ram Setu UA

Would you like to review this movie?

Cast & Crew

Ram Setu Movie Review : A lopsided argument on mythology versus history

• Times Of India

Ram Setu - Official Teaser

Ram Setu - Official Telugu Trailer

Ram Setu - Official Trailer

Ram Setu - Official Tamil Trailer

Ram Setu | Song - Om Namah Shivaay (Lyrical)

ETimes Movie Review, ‘Ram Setu’: Akshay Kumar...

Users' Reviews

Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive . Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.

Ramesh Choudhary 58 111 days ago

Useless workless 471 209 days ago.

�������������� ���� �������� ���������� �������� �������� ���������������� ������ ������������������ ������ ��������������.

User Rana 14 327 days ago

Jay shri ram����������

Vicky Kumar 2 340 days ago

Pruthvi 367 days ago

Visual stories.

Powerful tips to be more confident

Victoria-era inspired baby names that are making a comeback

IPL 2024: CSK's new captain Rujuraj Gaikwad loves this South Indian dish the most

World Poetry Day: 12 timeless Hindi poems that are pure magic

10 profound quotes by Neem Karoli Baba

Entertainment

Holi special: 8 No-sugar desi dry desserts for Holi

5 looks of 'The Family Star' Vijay Devrakonda that makes us swoon over the actor

10 best indoor plants that help keep negative energies away

Decoding Deepika Das' wedding reception look

News - Ram Setu

Still waiting to be offered a role by a big banner, say...

Akshay Kumar opens up on failure, reveals he has an int...

Jacqueliene Fernandez adds an extra ‘e’ to her name, ne...

Nushratt Bharuccha: I didn't have the heart to ask the ...

Aamir Khan never agreed to attend parties organised by ...

Nushrratt Bharuccha's item number 'Bareilly Ke Bazaar' ...

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Get reviews of the latest theatrical releases every week, right in your inbox every Friday.

Thanks for subscribing.

Please Click Here to subscribe other newsletters that may interest you, and you'll always find stories you want to read in your inbox.

Popular Movie Reviews

Ae Watan Mere Watan

Murder Mubarak

Bastar: The Naxal Story

Laapataa Ladies

Article 370

Crakk: Jeetegaa Toh Jiyegaa

Chote Nawab

Ram Setu Review: Akshay Kumar's Film Is About A Floating Stone But Has No Clue How To Stay Afloat

Experts are huddled in a floating laboratory aboard a ship out at sea and terms such as carbon dating, sonar imaging and global warming are bandied about. but forget science, this isn't even proper, passable fiction..

Akshay Kumar shared this picture. (courtesy: akshaykumar )

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Satyadev

Director: Abhishek Sharma

Rating: 1 star (Out of 5)

A wobbly bridge that stands on exceedingly weak pylons, Ram Setu , written and directed by Abhishek Sharma, is an abomination of mythic proportions. It is a film that dives into an ocean. But all it does is flail about in a sinkhole of silliness.

In the end, the film, which does occasionally cite books and other sources of knowledge, expectedly formulates a convenient conclusion about the Ramayana, Lord Rama and Ram Setu that smacks of WhatsApp university-level wisdom.

Let us find some evidence, the male protagonist says when he is faced with a foregone postulation. He sounds like a clueless man looking for a samosa vendor in the Gobi Desert. He is not alone. Everybody, yes everybody, in Ram Setu sounds pretty much the same and looks just as lost.

Parts of Ram Setu , presented by Prime Video and based on a story by creative producer Chandraprakash Dwivedi (who recently helmed Samrat Prithviraj , which was designed to serve a largely similar narrative) pretend to be science fiction. Experts are huddled in a floating laboratory aboard a ship out at sea and terms such as carbon dating, sonar imaging and global warming are bandied about. But forget science, this isn't even proper, passable fiction.

Poorly written, shoddily mounted and badly acted, Ram Setu is pure, self-serving and hysterical drivel that rides on the back of a Bollywood star who enjoys undisputed monopoly on the genre. There is absolutely nothing new here except for the fact that Akshay Kumar sports a studiedly professorial look that could be regarded as a departure from norm. That apart, he starts off spouting surprisingly provocative lines that go against type.

" Dharm sirf todta hai, sanskriti jodta hai (Religion divides, culture unites)," he says in one early scene. Worthy of applause? Well, it is easy to predict that all this is going to be too good to be true. Ram Setu is constructed around half-baked theories about India's past and present that sound more like ill-informed pronouncements of a vote-seeking politician than considered inferences of pundits who know what they are talking about.

The lead actor plays Aryan Kulshreshtha, an archaeologist we first see in Bamiyan, Afghanistan in 2007 as part of a subcontinental team of experts deployed to save the remnants of a Buddhist site destroyed by the Taliban. The man is soon in the line of fire. He saves himself and, in what is a minor miracle, a Pakistani archaeologist by the skin of their teeth.

Aryan next surfaces in the Delhi headquarters of a fictional Archaeological Society (not Survey) of India. His boss gives him a new task with the express instruction to serve the interests of a politically connected shipping tycoon (Nasser) who wants to demolish the Ram Setu and build a sea passage between India and Sri Lanka to maximise profit. Against the advice of his history professor-wife Gayatri (Nusshratt Bharuccha), Aryan accepts the assignment.

He proceeds to dig a mammoth hole for himself and his department. He becomes the fall guy and is suspended. After he has cooled his heels at home for a while, a lifeline is thrown to him. The shipping magnate who wants Ram Setu out of his way engages Aryan to find evidence to substantiate that the bridge predates Lord Ram and can be brought down without hurting religious sentiments.

The job requires Aryan to report to an onsite project manager (Pravesh Rana) who is just the sort of guy who revels is revealing to all and sundry that his loyalty is to his employer even if that means giving truth a wide berth. Needless to say, Aryan finds himself fighting to scuttle a major conspiracy.

In trying to find his way out of the hole he is in with mysterious tour guide named AP (Satya Dev) and scientist Sandra Rebello (Jacqueline Fernandez), he creates for the film a series of even bigger holes that engulf everything that Ram Setu wants to pass off as the ultimate truth. This, of course, isn't the fault of the character or the actor.

Ram Setu will be remembered - does it deserve to be remembered? - for serving up an unappetising goulash of history, mythology and fatuous fantasy. A lot of vigour has visibly gone into the making of the concoction. What is missing is logic.

Ram Setu presents the faith-versus-science debate in a manner so ham-fisted and heavy-handed that one can sense from thousands of nautical miles away that it isn't the least bit interested in an intelligent engagement with veracity, belief and reason. Sense is a bridge too far for Ram Setu. Its arguments, which do not hold much water anyway, are submerged by waves and waves of inanity.

Revolving around an archaeologist who does not believe in God and propounds the theory that Ram Setu is a natural formation and not a man-made structure, the film huffs and puffs its way to a very predictable climax where the naysayers have no qualms about changing course and voting against rationality.

All that Ram Setu portrays takes place in pre-2014 India. This allows the screenwriter to paint the government of the day in poor light and brand them as corrupt rulers who are in cahoots with robber barons out to make a killing by destroying the nation's cultural and religious heritage. Mercifully, no politician that the film portrays resembles a real figure. But that is only a minor concession that does little to offset the film's lopsided worldview.

Had the gratuitous gibberish that it peddles been presented with some flair, Ram Setu might have leapfrogged, Hanuman-like, over the hurdles that it creates for itself. But it has absolutely no mitigating quality. It isn't even well mounted. The VFX is rudimentary and the action scenes - underwater, on land, and in the air - are pedestrian.

Promoted Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com

Ram Setu seeks to drive home one singular point, and in unambiguous black and white: "I ss desh mein Ram ko jo nahin manta uska muh toh kala hona hi hai (In this nation, one who denies Lord Rama's existence deserves to have his face blackened)."

Well, does anybody need a two-and-half-hour movie to make that assertion? A detailed WhatsApp message from the makers would have sufficed. Ram Setu is cinema that does nothing for the medium or the audience. It is a film about a floating stone but has no clue how to stay afloat. Avoidable even if you are an Akshay Kumar fan.

Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Satyadev

Abhishek Sharma.

Track Budget 2023 and get Latest News Live on NDTV.com.

Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world .

Track Latest News and Election Results Coverage Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.

Watch Live News:

Subscribe Now! Get features like

• Latest News
• Entertainment
• Real Estate
• Lok Sabha Election Schedule 2024
• IPL 2024 Schedule
• Bihar Board Results
• The Interview
• Web Stories
• IPL Points Table
• IPL Purple Cap
• IPL Orange Cap
• Mumbai News
• Bengaluru News
• Daily Digest

Ram Setu movie review: Akshay Kumar film is enjoyable desi take on Indiana Jones

Ram setu movie review: akshay kumar stars in this enjoyable action adventure that manages to overcome its flaws because of a fun story and amazing visuals..

Ram Setu is a throwback to the Hollywood capers from a generation ago, when Harrison Ford or Nicholas Cage would go on a globetrotting adventure to uncover an ancient archaeological secret. Ram Setu takes that genre and blends it with Indian history, mythology, and socio-political commentary. The result is an enjoyable thrill-a-minute ride that is as fun as it is clichéd. But once you look past the flaws in logic, Ram Setu emerges as a fun popcorn adventure, the kind Bollywood hasn’t produced in quite a while. Also read: Ram Setu: Akshay Kumar's film likely to open at half of Sooryavanshi's earnings

Ram Setu is about a veteran archaeologist Dr Aryan Kulshreshtha ( Akshay Kumar in long hair and a distinguished grey beard), a non-believer, who is tasked with disproving the reality of the Ram Setu, the bridge between India and Sri Lanka described in Valmiki’s Ramayana. However, he finds that the structure may actually be man-made, implying Lord Ram may be historical after all. The film is the story of how Dr Aryan dodges obstacles to find a lost trail in search for Ravana’s golden Lanka, helped by an environmentalist Dr Sandra ( Jacqueline Fernandez ) and a local Lankan guide AP (Satya Dev).

First things first, Ram Setu is enjoyable. It is in parts slick and in other parts, quite thrilling. The credit for that goes to a good story backed by some of the best background score used in a Hindi film this year. The VFX and CGI are questionable indeed, as the trailer had indicated. The scenes with the diving suit are cartoonish, almost. But what makes up for that is the stunning underwater sequences. The way director Abhishek Sharma has captured the beauty and grandeur of Ram Setu under the Indian Ocean is reminiscent of BBC Earth’s Blue Planet documentary.

Ram Setu works best, when the protagonists are out on the field, in the thick of the action. As Dr Aryan and his comrades search for the historical evidence for Lord Ram’s tale, the viewer is engaged. But it falters the moment there is a lull in the action. We suddenly begin to notice how people can barge into the Supreme Court of India with an ‘I object milord’ and not get arrested (or shot). We notice how Akshay’s character is the only one doing any deduction and thinking and everyone else is just along for the ride, hardly contributing much. And we also notice small continuity errors, like Akshay’s beard changing into a stubble and then back again in successive scenes.

Akshay Kumar is given a golden opportunity in this film. His character – Dr Aryan – is unlike anything he has done in the recent past. He is an atheist, who needs to be converted to the cause. He looks different, talks different, and is conceptualised in a much different manner than many of his recent roles. His recent filmography has often been criticised to contain many public service announcements disguised as motion pictures. Ram Setu gives him a chance to do something different.

Sadly, the women in the film haven’t even been given that freedom to do something differently, or do anything at all. Jacqueline’s character is reduced to looking good and uttering some scientific terms every 20 minutes or so to justify her place on the ‘expedition’. Nushrrat Bharuccha fares even worse because her character is reduced to the shrieking wife, hardly contributing anything to the plot or the other characters. It is a letdown for the actor after a rather strong outing in Janhit Mein Jaari just a few months ago.

The surprise package of the film for me was Pravesh Rana. As the muscle to Nasser’s corrupt businessman, he is the film’s primary antagonist. And he plays that role perfectly, bringing enough menace and charm in what is essentially a filler role. The other highlight of the film is Satya Dev. Even though his character AP is written as a stereotypical Lankan with the clichéd accent, he brings through his performance enough charm and humour for the role to stand out. Between this and GodFather, the actor seems to be having quite a good year.

In tone and tenor, Ram Setu is similar to a sleeper hit from earlier this year – Karthikeya 2. That one was about finding the historicity of Lord Krishna and this one is about Lord Ram. The action, pacing, and other elements are also similar. But the films differ in scale. Ram Setu, with its reported ₹ 150-crore budget towers above the Telugu film, which was made in ₹ 30 crore as per reports. But it is, perhaps, a good thing that Ram Setu reminds one of a successful film from the south this year.

Ram Setu takes the best from the Indiana Jones and National Treasure schools of storytelling and injects some desi action in it. Sadly, it also injects Bollywood’s melodrama. Once you manage to look past all that though, Ram Setu takes you on a fun ride.

Director: Abhishek Sharma

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Satya Dev, Nasser, Nushratt Bharuccha, and Pravesh Rana.

Abhimanyu Mathur is an entertainment journalist with Hindustan Times. He writes about cinema, TV, and OTT, churning out interviews, reviews, and good old news stories. ...view detail

• Akshay Kumar
• Jacqueline Fernandez
• Nushrratt Bharuccha

Join Hindustan Times

Create free account and unlock exciting features like.

• Terms of use
• Privacy policy
• Weather Today
• HT Newsletters
• Subscription
• Print Ad Rates
• Code of Ethics

• Elections 2024
• India vs England
• T20 World Cup 2024 Schedule
• IPL 2024 Auctions
• T20 World Cup 2024
• Cricket Players
• ICC Rankings
• Cricket Schedule
• Other Cities
• Income Tax Calculator
• Budget 2024
• Petrol Prices
• Diesel Prices
• Silver Rate
• Relationships
• Art and Culture
• Telugu Cinema
• Tamil Cinema
• Exam Results
• Competitive Exams
• Board Exams
• BBA Colleges
• Engineering Colleges
• Medical Colleges
• BCA Colleges
• Medical Exams
• Engineering Exams
• Horoscope 2024
• Festive Calendar 2024
• Compatibility Calculator
• The Economist Articles
• Explainer Video
• On The Record
• Vikram Chandra Daily Wrap
• EPL 2023-24
• ISL 2023-24
• Asian Games 2023
• Public Health
• Economic Policy
• International Affairs
• Climate Change
• Gender Equality
• future tech
• Daily Sudoku
• Daily Crossword
• Daily Word Jumble
• HT Friday Finance
• Explore Hindustan Times
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Subscription - Terms of Use

Ram Setu movie Review| Akshay Kumar and logic go out to sea

“What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence,” wrote Christopher Hitchens in God Is Not Great. It is a quote I half-expected to stream forth from the mouth of Dr Aryan Kulshrestha (Akshay Kumar), an atheist archaeologist obsessed with ‘facts’ and ‘hard evidence’ in Abhishek Sharma’s Ram Setu. No soap. Aryan has no use for the Hitchen’s razor (or any razor, given his splendidly fuzzy white whiskers). He’s an atheist in the same way certain Amitabh Bachchan characters in the 70s and 80s were atheists: as a set-up for a turnabout further ahead.

This film about the origins of the Ram Setu—a 48-km chain of shoals between India and Sri Lanka that many believe is the eponymous bridge mentioned in the Ramayana—opens, befuddlingly, in Afghanistan, after Taliban forces have destroyed the Bamyan Buddha statues. Aryan, joining a crack team of foreign archaeologists, is researching there when they’re set upon by more terrorists. Aryan escapes—but not before retrieving a chest of ancient coins linked to the reign of Dahir of Ahor, the last Hindu king of Sindh. “Religion divides but culture unites,” he later says, sagely, at a press conference. How wonderful! How secular! Surely the headlines back home will agree?

Returning to India, Aryan wades into controversy, and, to make matters worse, is made the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India. There he prepares (or is forced to prepare) a report challenging the historicity of the Ramayana. The government, we gather, is working with a greedy private corporation to expedite the Sethusamudram project, which involves dredging around the Ram Setu to build a shipping canal. This is vehemently opposed by religious, political and environmental groups. Aryan’s report causes a furour—as had happened in 2007, though I doubt any of those ASI members were ever invited back, airdropped into a swanky research vessel, assigned teammates named Sandra Rebello (Jacqueline Fernandez) and Gabrielle (Jeniffer Piccinato), outfitted with a bulky exosuit that looks like a child’s action figure and told to prove their earlier theory all over again.

Anybody who loves the Ramayana—as story, myth, history, whatever—ought to dislike a film like Ram Setu. The ancient epic is one of the greatest adventures ever told, with thrilling characters, breathtaking set-pieces and intricate moral standoffs. Abhishek, while riding the wave of Hindu revivalism in mainstream Hindi cinema, can’t even deliver a smidgen of that experience. The underwater scenes inspire yawns instead of awe. Aryan and his crew—now helped by a tour guide named AP (a memorable Satyadev Kancharana)—get into chases and gunfights, yet any excitement is marred by the broken camaraderie of the group and the sheer strangeness of their mission.

Unable to complete his actual mission, Aryan concludes, “Proving Ravana’s existence will prove Lord Ram’s”. Whatever you say, doc. They travel from tea estate to lake to cave to mountaintop, checking off landmarks like ‘Ashok Vatika’ and ‘Sone Ki Lanka’. From a contained, sea-bound thriller, Ram Setu morphs into an extended commercial for Sri Lankan tourism’s Ramayana Trail (It’s funny to see Jacqueline, a Sri Lankan national, keep a straight face).

Akshay puckers his face in an odd squinch, like someone constantly smelling conspiracies in the air. It is unexplained why his character—a reasonably skeptical, well-esteemed researcher—would undergo such a sudden change of heart, or extract grand theories from flimsy, incomplete evidence.

The finale devolves into a shouting match of WhatsApp pronouncements, in the Supreme Court no less (the scene hits such a fever pitch the makers have to add a separate ‘work of fiction’ disclaimer). Once it’s over, Gayatri (Nushrratt Bharuccha), Aryan’s wife, congratulates him, telling him that “Shree Ram couldn’t have found a better lawyer than you”. Ram Setu attempts to prove the verities of the gods. All it confirms is the presumptuousness of mortals.

Ram Setu Cast: Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Satyadev Kancharana, M Nassar Director: Abhishek Sharma Rating: 2/5

Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp  

Download the TNIE app to stay with us and follow the latest

Related Stories

We've detected your location as Mumbai . Do you want to switch?

Accurate city detection helps us serve more contextual content

• You are in (Delhi) Change City
• ETimes Home
• Web Series Trailers
• Movie Reviews
• Movie Listings

Visual Stories

• Did You Know?
• Bigg Boss 17
• Relationships
• Health & Fitness
• Soul Search
• Home & Garden
• Women's Day Special

Entertainment

• Music Awards
• Bhubaneshwar
• humburgerIcon humburgerIcon humburgerIcon

• Cast & Crew
• Movie Review
• Users' Reviews

The film plays out like a poorly scripted reality show that isn’t even discreet about its purpose.

Ram Setu Movie Review: A lopsided argument on mythology versus history

• Times of India

ETimes Movie Review, ‘Ram Setu’: Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline ...

Ram Setu - Official Teaser

Ram Setu - Official Telugu Trailer

Ram Setu - Official Trailer

Ram Setu - Official Tamil Trailer

Ram Setu | Song - Om Namah Shivaay (Lyrical)

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Get reviews of the latest theatrical releases every week, right in your inbox every Friday.

Thanks for subscribing.

Please Click Here to subscribe other newsletters that may interest you, and you'll always find stories you want to read in your inbox.

Ramesh Choudhary 58 111 days ago

Useless workless 471 209 days ago.

�������������� ���� �������� ���������� �������� �������� ���������������� ������ ������������������ ������ ��������������.

User Rana 14 327 days ago

Jay shri ram����������

Vicky Kumar 2 340 days ago

Pruthvi 367 days ago

Powerful tips to be more confident

Victoria-era inspired baby names that are making a comeback

IPL 2024: CSK's new captain Rujuraj Gaikwad loves this South Indian dish the most

World Poetry Day: 12 timeless Hindi poems that are pure magic

10 profound quotes by Neem Karoli Baba

Nimisha Sajayan's most alluring photos!

Holi special: 8 No-sugar desi dry desserts for Holi

5 looks of 'The Family Star' Vijay Devrakonda that makes us swoon over the actor

10 best indoor plants that help keep negative energies away

Decoding Deepika Das' wedding reception look

• Entertainment /
• Movie Reviews /
• This film marks the first collaboration of uncle-nephew duo Anil Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. Arjun is the son of Anil’s brother Boney Kapoor. Share
• This film marks the first collaboration of uncle-nephew duo Anil Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. Arjun is the son of Anil’s brother Boney Kapoor.
• This is the second time Arjun Kapoor is playing a double role, the first being Aurangzeb (2013).
• The song ‘Yamma yamma’ from ‘Shaan’ is sampled in the song ‘Partywali Night' for the film.

Choose your reason below and click on the Submit button. This will alert our moderators to take action

• Foul language
• Inciting hatred against a certain community
• Out of context/Spam
• Copied from article

Your browser is not supported

Sorry but it looks as if your browser is out of date. To get the best experience using our site we recommend that you upgrade or switch browsers.

Find a solution

• Skip to main content
• Skip to navigation

• Back to parent navigation item
• Digital Editions
• Screen Network
• Stars Of Tomorrow
• The Big Screen Awards
• FYC screenings
• World of Locations
• UK in focus
• Job vacancies
• Distribution
• Staff moves
• Territories
• UK & Ireland
• North America
• Asia Pacific
• Middle East & Africa
• Future Leaders
• My Screen Life
• Karlovy Vary
• San Sebastian
• Sheffield Doc/Fest
• Middle East
• Box Office Reports
• International
• Golden Globes
• European Film Awards
• Stars of Tomorrow
• Berlin jury grid

Subscribe to Screen International

• Monthly print editions
• Awards season weeklies
• Stars of Tomorrow and exclusive supplements
• Over 16 years of archived content
• More from navigation items

‘Ram Setu’: Review

By Namrata Joshi 2022-10-26T12:13:00+01:00

Amazon Prime’s first foray into Indian film production stars Akshay Kumar as a conflicted archaeologist

Source: Abundantia Entertainment

Dir/scr: Abhishek Sharma. India. 2022. 144 mins

Amazon Prime Video’s first foray into film production in India, Ram Setu sets a disappointing new marker for the streaming platform. Far from breaking fresh ground, the Abhishek Sharma-directed co-production with Abundantia Entertainment, Cape of Good Films and Lyca Productions pliantly peddles yet another variation of the in-vogue narrative in Hindi cinema – celebrating India by invoking its glorious (specifically Hindu) mythology, culture and heritage – this time in a more pedestrian than persuasive manner. 

In its larger-than-life framing, this new age Bollywood conservatism seeks inspiration in modern Hollywood

This Diwali release sees Akshay Kumar playing Indiana Jones-style archaeologist Aryan Kulshreshtha, a man who stands by hard facts and cold logic, science and recorded history, rather than unproven beliefs and unquestioning faith. The future of a hot-button shipping canal project in the stretch of water between India and Sri Lanka (a reference to the real-life Sethusamudram project that has been temporarily shelved) depends on his research and findings. Our Brahmin hero (the caste underscored in his family name) might be an atheist to begin with, but the prodigal will return to the religious fold with the Hindu chants of endorsement—Jai Shri Ram, Om Namah Shivay and Asato maa sadgamaya—playing on in the background. 

The key issue facing Aryan is whether the titular Ram Setu is just a chain of natural limestone shoals under the sea between Rameswaram Island in Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar Island in Sri Lanka. Or, as per hardcore Hindu belief, is it truly the bridge, mentioned in Valmiki’s epic ‘Ramayana’, that was built by Lord Rama and his army of vaanaras (monkeys) to cross and rescue his wife Sita from Ravana? In which case, shouldn’t it be protected, and the project cancelled?

While the virtuous religious groups and committed environmentalists are firmly in Team Ram Setu, the rapacious government (the year is 2007, so not the current administration) and ambitious industrialist Indrakant (Nassar) are the villains, in denial of the divinity of the hallowed structure and undermining Hinduism for personal profit. Even when Aryan questions religion, calls it a divisive force, you can still clearly see the writing on the wall.

In its larger-than-life framing, this new age Bollywood conservatism seeks inspiration in modern Hollywood. So, the action-adventures of Aryan aspire to those of Harrison Ford’s Jones; hitting upon a lost treasure, ancient scripts and a rare statue of the reclining Buddha in an expedition to Afghanistan. With his specs, long hair and grey stubble Kumar looks suitably nerdy but also channels his macho soul when called upon in dodging bullets and in fights and chase sequences. 

But just as Aryan can’t rise above being a poor cousin of Jones, a lack of imagination and ingenuity seeps through the film. The screenplay can come across as childish in its machinations, while the action and underwater sequences lack thrill; especially in the scene where Aryan is shown walking on the sea (Ram Setu under his feet) with a huge rock extricated from the structure on his shoulder. A throwback to the iconic image of Prabhas as Shivudu lifting the giant Shivlinga in  Baahubali: The Beginning . 

The Hindu supremacy is underscored time and again, and disingenuously at that. Aryan is pained at the destruction of Jaffna Public Library in 1981. While on a UNESCO mission to restore the Bamiyan Buddhas, he rues its annihilation by the Taliban in 2001. But the 1992 demolition of Babri Masjid is brushed aside in a passing reference as a “land dispute”, without so much as mentioning the structure’s name. On the other hand, there’s a show of Hindu victimhood. Why should Ram Sethu not be protected when (the Mughal structures) Qutub Minar and Taj Mahal were adequately cared for during the works for the Delhi Metro and Taj Corridor projects respectively?

Elsewhere, Aryan berates the British for renaming Ram Setu ’Adam’s Bridge’ in the early 19th century, due to the belief that it was used by Adam to cross over to Sri Lanka after his expulsion from the Garden of Eden. He calls this name change an erasure of history and blames it on the “Eurocentrism of England”. Heavy duty words and phrases indeed. Such jargon, scientific and otherwise—sonar imaging, carbon dating, sedimentation, marine archeology—are strewn all over the script, as are references to events including the Civil War in Sri Lanka and the vague and arguable discovery of the date of birth of Rama by Pushkar Bhatnagar.  

This mythology is also given a gender angle, with Ram Setu pitched as a bridge that aided in the protection of a woman. The women in the film’s cast, however, are left with nothing much to do on screen. In fact, good guys or bad, women, men or children, no one else quite matters in the Akshay Kumar universe as he goes about fulfilling his primary duties as another flag bearer for an increasingly right-wing Bollywood. But even propaganda also needs to have some spark; Ram Setu is a damp squib.

Production company: Abundantia Entertainment, Cape of Good Films, Amazon Prime Video, Lyca Productions, Skywalk Films (Line Production)

Producers: Aruna Bhatia, Vikram Malhotra, Subaskaran, Mahaveer Jain, Aashish Singh, Prime Video 

Cinematography: Aseem Mishra

Editing: Rameshwar S. Bhagat

Production Design: Dayanidhi Patturajan, Amrish Patange

Music: Daniel B George, Ajay Gogavale, Atul Gogavale, Vikram Montrose, Chandan Saxena, Ved Sharma

Main cast: Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nushhratt Bharuccha, Nassar, Satyadev Kancharana

Related articles

Why are award-winning Indian documentaries struggling to find audiences at home?

2024-03-21T10:07:00Z By Namrata Joshi

While Indian documentaries are riding high at international festivals, at home filmmakers are struggling to connect them to cinemagoers.

‘The Beautiful Game’: Review

By Fionnuala Halligan

Micheal Ward and Bill Nighy make a dream team in Thea Sharrock’s homeless football league drama

‘Motherboard’: CPH:DOX Review

2024-03-20T15:43:00Z By Wendy Ide

The highs and lows of life as a single parent over two decades are captured in this affecting documentary from the UK

More from Reviews

‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’: Review

2024-03-20T13:00:00Z By Tim Grierson Senior US Critic

Ghostbusters old and new return to New York for another not-very-spirited sequel 

’The Battle For Laikipia’: CPH: DOX Review

2024-03-20T09:00:00Z

A devastating drought pushes tensions between tribes and white landowners in Kenya’s Laikipia to breaking point

‘Sleeping Dogs’: Review

2024-03-20T04:01:00Z By Nikki Baughan

Russell Crowe is a cop with Alzheimer’s who re-opens an old case in this blunt-edged thriller

• Advertise with Screen
• A - Z of Subjects
• Connect with us on Facebook
• Connect with us on Twitter
• Connect with us on Linked in
• Connect with us on YouTube
• Connect with us on Instagram>

Screen International is the essential resource for the international film industry. Subscribe now for monthly editions, awards season weeklies, access to the Screen International archive and supplements including Stars of Tomorrow and World of Locations.

• Screen Awards
• Media Production & Technology Show
• Terms and conditions
• Privacy & Cookie Policy
• Copyright © 2023 Media Business Insight Limited
• Subscription FAQs

Site powered by Webvision Cloud

Ram Setu Movie Review: Akshay Kumar and logic go out to sea

Rating: ( 2 / 5).

"What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence,” wrote Christopher Hitchens in God Is Not Great . It’s a quote I half-expected to stream forth from the mouth of Dr Aryan Kulshrestha (Akshay Kumar), an atheist archaeologist obsessed with ‘facts’ and ‘hard evidence’ in Abhishek Sharma’s Ram Setu . No soap. Aryan has no use for the Hitchen’s razor (or any razor, given his splendidly fuzzy white whiskers). He’s an atheist in the same way certain Amitabh Bachchan characters in the 70s and 80s were atheists: as a set-up for a turnabout further ahead.

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Satyadev Kancharana, M Nassar

Directed by: Abhiskeh Sharma

This film about the origins of the Ram Setu—a 48-km chain of shoals between India and Sri Lanka that many believe is the eponymous bridge mentioned in the Ramayana —opens, befuddlingly, in Afghanistan, after Taliban forces have destroyed the Bamyan Buddha statues. Aryan, joining a crack team of foreign archaeologists, is researching there when they’re set upon by more terrorists. Aryan escapes — but not before retrieving a chest of ancient coins linked to the reign of Dahir of Ahor, the last Hindu king of Sindh. “Religion divides but culture unites,” he later says, sagely, at a press conference. How wonderful! How secular! Surely the headlines back home will agree?

Returning to India, Aryan wades into controversy, and, to make matters worse, is made the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India. There he prepares (or is forced to prepare) a report challenging the historicity of the Ramayana. The government, we gather, is working with a greedy private corporation to expedite the Sethusamudram project, which involves dredging around the Ram Setu to build a shipping canal. This is being vehemently opposed by religious, political and environmental groups. Aryan’s report causes a furour — as had happened in 2007, though I doubt any of those ASI members were ever invited back, airdropped into a swanky research vessel, assigned teammates named Sandra Rebello (Jacqueline Fernandez) and Gabrielle (Jeniffer Piccinato), outfitted with a bulky exosuit that looks like a child’s action figure and told to prove their earlier theory all over again.  

Anybody who loves the Ramayana—as story, myth, history, whatever—ought to dislike a film like Ram Setu . The ancient epic is one of the greatest adventures ever told, with thrilling characters, breathtaking set-pieces and intricate moral standoffs. Abhishek, while riding the wave of Hindu revivalism in mainstream Hindi cinema, can’t even deliver a smidgen of that experience. The underwater scenes inspire yawns instead of awe. Aryan and his crew—now helped by a tour guide named AP (a memorable Satyadev Kancharana)—get into chases and gunfights, yet any excitement is marred by the broken camaraderie of the group and the sheer strangeness of their mission. Unable to complete his actual mission, Aryan concludes, “Proving Ravana’s existence will prove Lord Ram’s”. Whatever you say, doc. They travel from tea estate to lake to cave to mountaintop, checking off landmarks like ‘Ashok Vatika’ and ‘Sone Ki Lanka’. From a contained, sea-bound thriller, Ram Setu morphs into an extended commercial for Sri Lankan tourism’s Ramayana Trail (It’s funny to see Jacqueline, a Sri Lankan national, keep a straight face).

Akshay puckers his face in an odd squinch, like someone constantly smelling conspiracies in the air. It’s unexplained why his character—a reasonably skeptical, well-esteemed researcher—would undergo such a sudden change of heart, or extract grand theories from filmsy, incomplete evidence. The finale devolves into a shouting match of WhatsApp pronouncements, in the Supreme Court no less (the scene hits such a fever pitch the makers have to add a separate ‘work of fiction’ disclaimer). Once it's over, Gayatri (Nushrratt Bharuccha), Aryan’s wife, congratulates him, telling him that "Shree Ram couldn’t have found a better lawyer than you". Ram Setu attempts to prove the verities of the gods. All it confirms is the presumptuousness of mortals.

Related Stories

Ram Setu (2022)

• User Reviews

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews

• User Ratings
• External Reviews
• Metacritic Reviews
• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
• Plot Summary
• Plot Keywords
• Parents Guide

Did You Know?

• Crazy Credits
• Alternate Versions
• Connections
• Soundtracks

Photo & Video

• Photo Gallery
• Trailers and Videos

Related Items

• External Sites

Related lists from IMDb users

Recently Viewed

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Love Lies Bleeding Link to Love Lies Bleeding
• Problemista Link to Problemista
• La Chimera Link to La Chimera

New TV Tonight

• X-Men '97: Season 1
• Nolly: Season 1
• In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon: Season 1
• The Long Shadow: Season 1
• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• Palm Royale: Season 1
• Alice & Jack: Season 1
• Davey & Jonesie's Locker: Season 1
• Photographer: Season 1
• Top Chef: Season 21

Most Popular TV on RT

• Shōgun: Season 1
• The Gentlemen: Season 1
• Manhunt: Season 1
• Apples Never Fall: Season 1
• Avatar: The Last Airbender: Season 1
• The Regime: Season 1
• Mary & George: Season 1
• Masters of the Air: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• X-Men '97: Season 1 Link to X-Men '97: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Marvel TV Ranked by Tomatometer

Best TV Shows of 2024: Best New Series to Watch Now

Women’s History

Awards Tour

X-Men ’97 First Reviews: “Marvel’s Best Release in Years,” Critics Say

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2024

• Trending on RT
• Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
• Play Movie Trivia
• X-Men '97
• Late Night with the Devil

Ram Setu Reviews

Amazon Prime Video’s first foray into film production in India, Ram Setu sets a disappointing new marker for the streaming platform.

Full Review | Oct 27, 2022

Ram Setu is an example of a movie that thinks it can coast by on some eye-catching cinematography without having a good story. The tedious plot developments are poorly conceived, the performances are mediocre, and the action scenes look very fake.

Full Review | Oct 25, 2022

We want Akshay Kumar to explore the mysteries of Ramayana and instead he offers arguments in court about taking the epic at its face value.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 25, 2022

The surprise package of the film for me was Pravesh Rana. As the muscle to Nasser’s corrupt businessman, he is the film’s primary antagonist. And he plays that role perfectly.

A Hindutva project pretending to be scientific, with aspirations to being a Baahubali.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Oct 25, 2022

It should have been a thrilling yarn. Instead, it's an eye-glazing opportunity lost.

Barring a few decent chase sequences, Ram Setu has no spark and is way too preachy. Lord Rama doesn’t need a salesman or films acting as Instagram influencers for him.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 25, 2022

Experts are huddled in a floating laboratory aboard a ship out at sea and terms such as carbon dating, sonar imaging and global warming are bandied about. But forget science, this isn't even proper, passable fiction.

Akshay Kumar's latest film is a pedestrian experience, which is interested only in hammering home its message.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Oct 25, 2022

Ram Setu may not be as accurate and well researched as a Nat Geo documentary but it surely is an adventure thriller with great visuals and an engaging narrative.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 25, 2022

• Movie Schedules
• OTT and TV News

Most Viewed Articles

• Malayalam crime thriller Abraham Ozler is now streaming on this OTT platform
• RC 16: Ram Charan-Buchi Babu Sana’s movie launched with a grand pooja ceremony
• OTT: Keerthy Suresh in Suhas’ Uppu Kappurambu
• RC 16: Shiva Rajkumar’s comments on Buchi Babu Sana and Ram Charan go viral
• OTT movies and series releasing this week
• Rashmika’s ravishing look from Pushpa 2 gets leaked
• Star hero’s movie to get A certificate?
• List of upcoming Telugu films whose digital rights are bagged by Prime Video

Recent Posts

• Latest Photos : Meenakshi Chaudhary
• లైన్ మ్యాన్: నటుడిగా నాకు ఎప్పటికీ ప్రత్యేకమే – హీరో త్రిగుణ్!
• Glamorous Pics : Nidhhi Agerwal
• OTT Review: Sara Ali Khan’s Ae Watan Mere Watan – Hindi film on Prime Video
• Review : Haddhu Ledhuraa – Tedious action drama
• ఆ క్రియేటివ్ డిస్కషన్స్ పూర్తిగా ఎంజాయ్ చేశాం – రాజమౌళి!

Release Date : October 25, 2022

123telugu.com Rating : 2.5/5

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Satyadev, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Nasser

Director: Abhishek Sharma

Producers: Aruna Bhatia, Vikram Malhotra, Subaskaran, Mahaveer Jain, Aashish Singh, Prime Video

Music Director : Daniel B George

Cinematography : Aseem Mishra

Editor : Rameshwar S Bhagat

Related Links : Trailer

Akshay Kumar, who is going through a series of flops, has now come up with the adventure thriller Ram Setu. The film generated good interest among movie buffs as it is related to Indian heritage. It hit the screens today. Let’s see how it is.

Aryan Kulshreshtha (Akshay Kumar) is a renowned Archaeologist who gets promoted as Joint Director of the Archaeology department due to his remarkable work. Indrakanth (Nasser) decides to construct a project named Sethusamudram, destroying Ram Setu, but for that to happen, Indrakanth should obtain a scientific clearance proving Ram Setu is a natural formation. Hence Aryan is given the task of ascertaining whether Ram Setu is formed naturally or is man-made. The rest of the film is about the journey of Aryan in this process.

Plus Points:

The idea to explore the thousands year older Indian heritage of Ram Setu, which is believed to be constructed by Lord Sri Rama himself, is good. Several facts about this ancient construction have been mentioned in the film, and enough research was done to showcase the details.

Akshay Kumar does well as the Archaeologist and carries the film throughout. His character requires him to play a professional who is hell-bent on his mission, and Akshay lives in the role. He is ably supported by Jacqueline Fernandez.

Telugu actor Satyadev gets a good role and is nice in his debut film. He gets to travel along with the protagonist throughout the film. There are a few exciting scenes like Akshay walking on Ram Setu, and a couple of chase sequences in the second half that grab our interest and are executed pretty well. The climax twist though routine, is presented in a fair manner.

Minus Points:

The filmmakers had a fascinating subject that hasn’t been touched in Indian cinema, but they didn’t succeed in coming up with an equally exciting narrative. Though there is a lot of fiction added, it still doesn’t engage enough. One has to have a racy screenplay for this kind of adventure thriller to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, but that does not happen here.

The film runs on a flat note most of the time. The first half an hour or so isn’t related to the actual plot, and the character establishment of Akshay should have been done in an even sharp manner. Whenever we get across a few interesting moments, they are short lived and derail the interest of the audience.

Many scenes are conveniently written in the film, which doesn’t give the thrills the audience expects and makes one predict the following sequences. One more huge drawback is the VFX work. Being such a biggie, the visual effects are wholly below-par, even hampering the impact.

Technical Aspects:

The music by Daniel B George is thoroughly disappointing, which shouldn’t be the case for an adventure thriller. The editing is okayish, but a few scenes should have been trimmed further. The production values are decent. The cinematography by Aseem Mishra is fine. The Telugu dubbing is decent.

Coming to director Abhishek Sharma, he picked an exciting point but didn’t deliver to its full potential. Instead, what we get to see is a half-baked product that has been in the making for a while. A fast-paced screenplay with a few more exciting scenes would have made much more difference. The research work is appreciable, but the narrative isn’t impressive.

On the whole, Ram Setu is a dull adventure thriller that manages to hold our attention only in a few sequences. Akshay Kumar tries hard to hold our attention but the bland and lack of gripping screenplay makes the film an underwhelming watch this weekend.

123telugu.com Rating: 2.5/5

Reviewed by 123telugu Team

Click Here For Telugu Review

Articles that might interest you:

• Interview: Mallik Ram – We worked on Tillu Square’s story for about 600 days
• Solid advance bookings for Sree Vishnu’s Om Bheem Bush
• Strong Buzz: Ram Charan to work with Sukumar again
• Sree Vishnu’s Om Bheem Bush USA Premieres Today
• Star hero penning the screenplay for Ilaiyaraaja’s biopic
• Most sought-after Bollywood actor in Ram Charan’s next?

Ad : Teluguruchi - Learn.. Cook.. Enjoy the Tasty food

• Times Now Navbharat
• Times Now Marathi

Ram Setu movie review: Akshay Kumar starrer bases itself on an interesting premise but gets too ambitious in parts

Updated Oct 25, 2022, 03:38 PM IST

Share This Article

Critic's Ratings

Latest Entertainment News

Who Is TM Krishna, Recipient Of The Sangita Kalanidhi Award 2024?

Japanese Habits That Can Transform Your Life In An Enriching Way

Nicholas Galitzine Says BTS Was Major Inspiration For His Character Hayes Campbell In The Idea of You

Elvish Yadav Snake Venom Case: NDPS Act NOT Removed, Only Section Changed To 'Psychotropic Substance'

Funeral Gone Wrong: Mother Broadcast Herself Naked In Shower During Funeral Live Webcast, Mourners In Shock

Virat Kohli CORRECTS Alan Walker After He Congratulates Him On Birth Of His Daughter: I Just Had A Son

Do Aur Do Pyaar Teaser Out! Vidya Balan, Ileana D'Cruz, Pratik Gandhi, Sendhil's Rom-Com Will Take You On A Fun Ride

Rani Mukerji Celebrates Her 46th Birthday with With Paps, Cuts Cake - WATCH

Latest And Upcoming Movies

​Murder Mubarak​

Sara Ali Khan,Pankaj Tripathi,Karisma Kapoor,Vijay Varma,Aditya Roy Kapur,Janhvi Kapoor,Kunal Khemu,Tisca Chopra,Sanjay Kapoor,Dimple Kapadia

Critic's Rating

Sidharth Malhotra,Raashii Khanna,Disha Patani,Tanuj Virwani,Ronit Roy

Ajay Devgn,R Madhavan,Jyothika,Janki Bodiwala,Anngad Raaj

Emraan Hashmi,Mahima Makwana,Mouni Roy,Rajeev Khandelwal,Shriya Saran,Vishal Vashishtha,Vijay Raaz,Naseeruddin Shah\

Related News

Murder Mubarak Movie Review: Sara Ali Khan, Pankaj Tripathi Thriller Marred By Too Many Suspects

Yodha Review: Sidharth Malhotra's Action-Packed Thriller Sparks Intense Drama And Patriotism

Shaitaan Movie Review: Ajay Devgn, R Madhavan's Horror Thriller Is A Spellbinding Suspense

Showtime Review: Emraan Hashmi Show Take You Inside The World Of Showbiz And It's Not All Glitz And Glamour

Dune Part 2 Movie Review: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya's Sci-Fi Film Is A Visual Spectacle, A Pure Cinematic Gem

FOLLOW US ON

• Critic Movie Review
• User Movie Reviews

Ram Setu Movie Review: Despite an interesting premise and wellexecuted climax, RAM SETU suffers from an unconvincing plot and poor VFX.

Ram setu rests on an interesting premise and a well-executed climax. however, it suffers due to a lack of a convincing plot and poor vfx, ram setu review {2.5/5} & review rating.

RAM SETU is the story of an archeologist’s life-changing expedition. The year is 2007. Dr. Aryan Kulshrestha ( Akshay Kumar ) goes to Bamyan, Afghanistan for a joint expedition with a Pakistani team. Here, he excavates ancient treasure belonging to an Indian king. Suddenly, the Talibans attack the site. Aryan escapes, but at the same time, he manages to take the treasure chest with him. At a press conference, he happens to speak about being an atheist and it grabs all the headlines, more than how he risked his life to preserve history. Meanwhile, Indrakant (Nassar), owner of Pushpak Shipping, requests the government of India to dismantle the Ram Setu, as part of his Sethusamudram Project. He believes this will save fuel and reduce the travel time between India and Sri Lanka. This leads to massive anger in the country and a petition is filed in the Supreme Court. The government, which is hand in gloves with Indrakant, takes the help of the Archeological Society of India (ASI). Aryan has just been promoted as Joint Director General of the ASI. The government feels an atheist like him can help them. He is asked to submit a report stating that Ram Setu is a naturally made structure and is not man-made. Aryan asks for time to research on this, but he's not allowed to do so. The report submitted by him, however, also raises question on Ramayana. It leads to a major controversy. But Indrakant is happy. He asks him to go to Ram Setu and prove to the world that it is not man-made. Aryan reaches Rameshwaram. Project Manager Bali (Praveshh Rana), environmentalist Dr. Sandra Rebello ( Jacqueline Fernandez ) and Dr. Gabrielle (Jennifer Piccinato) are also enlisted to help Aryan in his mission. As per some research, Lord Ram was born 7000 years ago. Aryan has to prove that the Ram Setu predates the birth of Lord Ram. As he begins his research, he realizes that he might be wrong in his belief and that Ram Setu was indeed built by Lord Ram and the Vanar Sena. What happens next forms the rest of the film.

Abhishek Sharma's story is very promising and has all the ingredients of a blockbuster. Abhishek Sharma's screenplay, however, is a mixed bag. While some scenes are well thought of, several sequences are silly and convenient. Abhishek Sharma and Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi's dialogues are simple and sharp.

Abhishek Sharma's direction is okay. On the positive side, he ensures that the 144 minute long film doesn’t get boring even for a moment. The manner in which Aryan reaches the Ram Setu and does his research makes for a unique watch. The same goes for the scenes where he goes on a trail to find Ravana’s Lanka. Something of this sort has never been seen in Bollywood before and that goes in favour of RAM SETU.

On the flipside, things happen very conveniently for Aryan and his team. It’s difficult to digest that nobody in the last 7000 years managed to excavate or locate these significant places and that Aryan was the first one to do so. The VFX is poor, especially for a big budget film. Lastly, showing the violent attackers were right in assaulting Aryan is problematic.

RAM SETU starts on an interesting note as the Afghanistan episode sets the mood that this is an action film with a dash of history. The film falls thereafter but picks up once Aryan reaches Rameshwaram. The scene where he brings the rock sample is applause-worthy. The intermission point is intriguing. Post interval, the chase sequence in Jaffna and also how easily Aryan finds the ancient manuscript fail to entice. The Ravana trail episode, though engaging, fails on the level of logic. The courtroom scene is arresting while the last scene helps the film end on a fine note.

Ram Setu | Official Trailer | Hindi | Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar looks quite dashing in his new look and performance wise, he’s first rate. Jacqueline Fernandez is decent. Nushrratt Bharuccha (Gayatri) performs well but is wasted. Satya Dev (AP) is too good and is a surprise of the film. Pravessh Rana leaves a mark. Nassar is average. Jennifer Piccinato has a good screen presence but has a limited role. Shweta Kawaatra (Lawyer) and the actors playing the judge and Aryan’s senior are okay.

RAM SETU is a songless film. The theme track is played in the end credits. Daniel B George's background score is exciting and in sync with the film’s mood.

Aseem Mishra's cinematography is neat. Dayanidhi Patturajan and Amrish Patange's production design is rich. Costumes by Leepakshi Ellawadi (For Akshay Kumar), Rushi Sharma & Manoshi Nath (For Primary Artists) and Chhavi Thakur (For Secondary Artists) are fine. ANL Arasu and Parvez Shaikh's action could had been more exciting. NY VFXWaala and Shock & Awe Films' VFX is substandard. Rameshwar S Bhagat's editing is appropriate.

On the whole, RAM SETU rests on an interesting premise and a well-executed climax. However, the film suffers majorly due to a lack of a convincing plot and poor VFX. At the box office, it will need strong positive word of mouth to sustain, especially after a not-so-encouraging opening.

• Ram Setu Review
• Ram Setu Rating
• Ram Setu Movie Reviews
• Ram Setu Public Review
• Ram Setu Movie Release Date
• Ram Setu Film Release Date
• Ram Setu Critic Review
• Ram Setu Movie Review
• Ram Setu Reviews
• Ram Setu Film Reviews
• Ram Setu Film Review
• Ram Setu Hindi Movie Review
• Ram Setu Hindi Movie Reviews

Ram Setu Movie News

Jacqueline Fernandez remembers shooting for the Akshay Kumar starrer Ram Setu with these throwback images

Ram Setu's overseas business likely to end around 1 mil. USD; Akshay Kumar’s overseas box office graph sees a steady downward spiral post pandemic

Ram Setu Overseas Box Office: Akshay Kumar starrer is a huge disaster in overseas; collects 650k USD [Rs. 5.37 cr.] in its extended weekend

Box Office: Ram Setu and Thank God - Monday updates

Box Office: Ram Setu and Thank God - Weekend updates

Cinema owners start replacing Ram Setu & Thank God with Kantara (Hindi); to get 25% more shows from tomorrow

• Facebook Comments
• Ae Watan Mere Watan Review
• Murder Mubarak Review
• Kung Fu Panda 4 (English) Review
• Shaitaan Review
• Dune: Part Two (English) Review
• Article 370 Review
• Bob Marley: One Love (English) Review
• Madame Web (English) Review
• Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay Review
• Bhakshak Review
• Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya Public Review
• Fighter Public Review
• Salaar Public Review
• Dunki Public Review
• Animal Public Review
• Sam Bahadur Public Review
• Tiger 3 Public Review
• Thank You For Coming Public Review
• Mission Raniganj Public Review
• Jawan Public Review
• Bastar – The Naxal Story Box Office
• Yodha Box Office
• Alpha Beta Gamma Box Office
• All Of Us Strangers (English) Box Office
• Daket Of Dholpur Box Office
• The Color Purple (English) Box Office
• Shaitaan Box Office
• Tera Kya Hoga Lovely Box Office
• Kusum Ka Biyaah Box Office
• May December (English) Box Office
• Akshay Kumar
• Katrina Kaif
• Ranveer Singh
• Deepika Padukone
• Vaani Kapoor
• Salman Khan
• Rashmika Mandanna
• John Abraham
• Ayushmann Khurrana
• Tara Sutaria
• Rajkummar Rao
• Box Office Collection
• Analysis & Features
• All Time Top Grossers
• Overseas Box Office
• 100 Crore club
• 200 Crore club
• Top Actress
• Box Office Collection 2022
• Box Office Collection 2021
• Box Office Collection 2020
• Bollywood News
• Featured Movie News
• Latest Box Office News
• Box Office Updates
• Box Office Business Talk
• Box Office Overseas News
• Latest News Slideshows
• Upcoming Releases
• Movie Reviews
• Bollywood Hindi News
• Parties and Events
• Latest Celeb Photos
• Celeb Wallpapers
• Movie Stills
• Movie Wallpapers
• Top Movie Video Songs
• Celebrity Interview Videos
• Movie Trailer Videos
• Party & Event Videos
• Exclusives & Specials
• Do Aur Do Pyaar - Official Teaser | Vidya Balan,…
• The Lost Girl - Official Trailer | Prachi Bansal,…
• Motion Poster of upcoming Film Kapkapiii |…
• Ameena Movie Trailer | Rekha Rana, Anant…
• Bhaiyya Ji (Teaser) | Manoj Bajpayee | Apoorv…
• Kanguva - Sizzle Teaser | Suriya | Bobby Deol |…
• Latest Hindi News
• Latest Bhojpuri News
• Celebs@twitter
• Hungama.com
• Artist Aloud
• Hungama Games
• Music Reviews
• Bharat Official Trailer
• Download Celeb Photos
• Download Celeb Wallpapers
• Download Movie photos
• Download Celebrity Party Photos
• Download Movie First Look Poster
• Download Magazine Cover
• Download Movie On Set Photos
• Download Movie Wallpapers

• Date of Birth Month January Febuary March April May June July August September October November December Date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Year 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1920 1919 1918 1917 1916 1915 1914 1913
• Gender Male Female

Skip this step for now

• Your Rating Click to rate on scale of 1-5
• Review Title

5000 characters remaining

• Daily BO Update
• Daily Breakdown
• Hits & Flops
• All Time Grossers
• Highest Grossers
• Highest Openers
• Highest Weekend
• Best of Overseas
• Hollywood Highest
• Fact-o-meter
• Entertainment News
• Bollywood News
• Television & Web
• Fashion & Lifestyle
• Bigg Boss 17
• Hollywood News
• What To Watch
• Bollywood Movie Reviews
• Hollywood Movie Reviews
• All South Movie Reviews
• Tamil Movie Reviews
• Telugu Movie Reviews
• Kannada Movie Reviews
• Malayalam Movie Reviews
• Marathi Movie Reviews
• Web Series Reviews
• Music Reviews
• Box Office Reviews
• Trailer Reviews
• Audience Poll
• BO Filmometer
• Stars’ Power Index
• Directors’ Power Index
• 100 Crore Club
• Worldwide 200 Crores+
• Profitable Films
• Recommended Movies
• Upcoming Movies
• Released Movies
• Web Stories
• About Koimoi

Home » Movies » Bollywood Movie Reviews

Ram Setu Movie Review: Dear Akshay Kumar, Kya Matlab Iske Baad Aur 4 Films Ready To Release Hai?

While i give akshay kumar's ram setu a glowing one-star i'd still want you guys to watch this, here's why.

Star Cast: Akshay Kumar, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Jacqueline Fernandez, Satyadev Kancharana, Jeniffer Piccinato, Nassar, Pravesh Rana

Director: Abhishek Sharma

What’s Good: Throughout the film I did try extremely hard to find something that was done well, and the only thing I can come up with is that this helped me to use enough sarcasm in my review

What’s Bad: Ram Setu is the worst thing that happened to Ram Setu since it apparently got submerged in water

Loo Break: If you don’t voluntary take it, you’ll be forced by your soul to take a few!

Watch or Not?: You haven’t even started to read the review yet & already know my answer, so decide for yourself!

Available On: Theatrical Release (Don’t go, please?)

Runtime: 144 minutes (Quote Of The Day: Bad news is time flies, the good news is you’re the pilot)

Aryan (Akshay Kumar) is a renowned atheist archaeologist who is chosen to research about Ram Setu’s construction & give the verdict on whether it’s man-made or a natural phenomenon. While doing the same he faces the wrath of the general people for calling Ramayana a ‘Maha-Kavya’ and questioning its existence.

The big bad billionaire (Nassar) spots his research & tries to use him for his benefit in proving Ram Setu a natural phenomenon existing way before Shri Ram. He appoints Aryan, providing him with every possible thing to do the research but how all of this takes a u-turn is what the film is all about.

Ram Setu Movie Review: Script Analysis

This part of the review, this little part, is called ‘script analysis’, which is completely skipped by the makers of this film because dafuq they were smoking while penning this? (Especially, the second half). You get all about Abhishek Sharma ‘s story in the trailer itself, and the film is not exactly what you’d imagine but way worse.

Side note: Every film ever created has been made with ‘genuine intentions’ so let’s please keep that angle out of the frame, because I never doubt the intention of any creator but only question & criticise the final product so there could be some hope left for a better attempt next time.

Sharma’s story is as predictable as Popatlal’s marriage angle in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah , it’s as predictable as a puppy growing up to be a dog, as predictable as Mumbai’s summer getting humid (you get the point, right?). The second half burns your brain to a level that you’d want to dive into the hideous CGI-filled sea to never return.

Ram Setu Movie Review: Star Performance

Okay, I’ll admit, I was such a die-hard Akshay Kumar fan once that I changed my FB name to ‘Tees Maar Khan’ back in 2010, and this was the time when FB allowed to change your name just 3 times. I used 33.33% of the chances of changing my profile name on Akshay. I was 15 when Housefull was released, had minimal money in my pocket & fought with my parents to go watch the film alone (in a new city) only because I wanted to see that on the first day itself. Spending the only 80 bucks I had on the ticket, I walked 6 kilometres (return) to watch Housefull in a city I wasn’t even aware of. Why am I telling you all this? Because each of those memories is officially scarred today. Dear Akki, you’ve overturned things before, just think about your die-hard fans while you sign your upcoming films.

Nushrratt Bharuccha & Jacqueline Fernandez make zero impact on what’s happening in the film, a sad state (and film) to be in. Satyadev Kancharana’s character is the most illogical among the lot only pretending to be redeemed by a jarring twist in the end. Jeniffer Piccinato, Nassar & Pravesh Rana add to the mediocrity of the supporting cast.

Ram Setu Movie Review: Direction, Music

I was in love with Abhishek Sharma’s work after Tere Bin Laden & Pokhran , having immensely great expectations from what he does next. Didn’t expect this to be the result of him talking about such an interesting subject. It all boils down to the story you write on paper & that’s the weakest link of all in this film.

Daniel B. George tries to be weirdly experimental with the background score starting with a generic Arabic set piece to a strange usage of trumpets in the score. It works in some places but falters in others. The songs used in the background are not even passable to forget about them.

Ram Setu Movie Review: The Last Word

All said and done, while I give this film a glowing one star, I’d still want you guys to watch this. Not because it has some saving grace, but because if Rajkumar Kohli (Jaani Dushman’s director) set out intentionally with an unlimited budget to make the worst movie ever, he could not have made something this bad.

Ram Setu Trailer

Ram Setu releases on October 25, 2022.

Share with us your experience of watching Ram Setu.

Must Read: Black Adam Movie Review: Dwayne Johnson Proves Why You Don’t Need To Be Muscular To Be A Good Superhero!

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube | Telegram

RELATED ARTICLES

IPL 2024: Meet Mallika Sagar, The Viral IPL Auctioneer Who Is Here To Stay!

IPL 2024 Opening Ceremony: Tradition Of Glitz & Glamour Continues; Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff To Perform; More Details Inside!

Box Office: Salman Khan Will Stay At #1 In Star Ranking Despite No Release In 2024?

Check this out.

Alia Bhatt At The Box Office: 12 Years, 15 Films &...

Bianca Censori’s Mother Accepts Her Daughter In Sheer Outfit Sans Lingerie...

Johnny Depp Denies Abuse Allegations After Lola Glaudini Claims He Used...

Top 10 Highest-Grossing Bollywood Films Of 2024 At The Indian Box...

Giancarlo Esposito Discusses Possibility Of Returning To Star Wars Through ‘The...

Ae Watan Mere Watan Review: Sara Ali Khan Breaks Her Diva...

Don't miss.

The Bear Renewed For Season 4 Ahead Of Season 3 Release,...

Top 100 Highest-Grossing Hindi Films At The Indian Box Office (Since...

Prithviraj Sukumaran’s The Goat Life (Aadujeevitham): A Look At The Shocking...

Ae Watan Mere Watan Review: Sara Ali Khan Breaks Her Diva Mould To Turn A Hero & Deserves Distinction For Learning This History Lesson...

Furiousa : A Mad Max Saga Trailer Review: Fierce Anya Taylor Joy & Chris Hemsworth Face Off In This Vengeance Thriller

Crew Trailer Review: Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan & Kriti Sanon Are Ready To Risk It To Steal Our Hearts!

Murder Mubarak Review: Sara Ali Khan & Vijay Varma’s Multistarrer Is The Best Mystery To Solve Only At 2X Speed Or Watch It Backwards...

• Privacy Policy

Gulte Telugu news

Ram Setu Movie Review

Article by Naziria Published by GulteDesk --> Published on: 8:18 am, 26 October 2022

Cast : Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nushrratt, Satya Dev and others Director : Abhishek Sharma Producers : Aruna Bhatia, Vikram Malhotra Music : Daniel B. George Banner : Amazon Studios, Cape of Good Films, Lyca Productions, Abundantia Entertainment Run-time : 143 minutes

Akshay Kumar is churning out films left right and center. His latest release is Ram Setu which has been made on a budget of 150 crores. The film has Jacqueline Fernandez, Nusrat Baruchha and Telugu actor Satyadev in key roles. Abhishek Sharma has directed this film which has music by Daniel B George.

Indrakanth(Nassar) is the owner of the prestigious Pushpak Shipping Corp. He requests the government of India to dismantle the Ram Setu, as part of his Sethusamudram Project. This does not go well with many and a case is filed. The government of India brings in Aryan(Akshay Kumar), the Joint Director of the Archaeology department into action and asks him to submit a report to reveal whether the Ram Setu is man-made or is a natural formation. The rest of the story is about Aryan’s journey into the world of Ram Setu.

Performances

Akshay Kumar is seen in a new look and plays his age. Performance wise, he is sincere and does what is expected of him. In all the confrontation scenes, Akki does really well. Jacqueline Fernandez is decent in her supporting role. Telugu actor Satyadev is superb in his key role and is the surprise package. Nusrat Barucha was dull and was wasted in her role. Pravesh Rana is very good and Nasser was neat in a few scenes but also over acted for no reason.

Technicalities

Ram Setu does not have any songs but Daniel B George’s background score is amazing. It lifts the dull scenes and the score in the crunch scenes of Ram Setu was good. Aseem Mishra’s camera work is pretty good. But the main villain of the film is the VFX design. It is very dull and looks tacky in many areas. Even a good scene is falted by such poor visuals. Editing is just about okay but the beginning of the film should have been trimmed. Abhishek Sharma’s story is very promising and has all the episodes to make an engaging watch but the director’s poor narration spoils the day.

Akshay Kumar’s performance Storyline

Thumbs Down

Tacky VFX Silly Narration Lack of engaging emotions

Ram Setu starts on an interesting note with the Afgan episode. But thereafter, things become slow with the entry of Nasser. The scenes which set up the entry of Akshay into the Ram Setu project are not that great and bore the audience. Only when Akshay takes up the massive project, the film starts getting interesting. Credit should go to the director Abhishek for showing the episodes of Aryan reaching the Ram Setu and then going on a trail to find Ravana’s Lanka in a splendid manner.

The subject matter is such that the audience gets curious to see what happens next. A scene where Akshay Kumar brings the sample of a rock is proof of the same. But it is the lack of grip in the screenplay which spoils the fun. The inexperience of Abhishek is clearly seen in several scenes and the tacky VFX also does not help matters much.

However, the pre-interval block and conflict point during this time keep the audience interested. But things fall apart post the interval. There is no grip in the proceedings and things happen so easily for Akshay that he finds out the truth of several hundred years just like that. These scenes are hard to believe.

Director Abhishek has done extensive research on the film and it is visible in key scenes. But when it comes to narrating it in a cinematic manner, he fails and gives us half baked proceedings. The film has interesting scenes but they do not thrill you completely. Ram Setu had a good plot to be a solid hit but it is marred by some lackluster narration and ends as a below par film from Akshay and his team.

Bottom Line – Hey Raam!

Tags Akshay Kumar Gulte Reviews Movie Reviews Ram Setu

Click Here for Recommended Movies on OTT (List Updates Daily)

• Photo Gallery
• World Records
• World History
• Indian Dance
• Indian Music

Kids Portal For Parents India Kids Network

Ram Setu: Bollywood Action Adventure

4to40.com October 26, 2022 Movie Reviews 1,465 Views

Movie Name:  Ram Setu Directed by:  Abhishek Sharma Starring:  Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Satyadev Kancharana, Shubham Jaykar, Jeniffer Piccinato, Nassar Genre:  Action ,  Adventure ,  Drama Running Time: 140 Minutes Release Date:  25 October, 2022 Original Network: Amazon Prime Video Rating:  – Budget: Rs. 150 Crore

An atheist archaeologist turned believer must race against time to prove the true existence of the legendary Ram Setu before evil forces destroy the pillar of India’s heritage.

Ram Setu is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language action-adventure film directed by Abhishek Sharma. The film stars Akshay Kumar , Jacqueline Fernandez, Nushrratt Bharuccha and Satya Dev and follows an archeologist who is investigating the nature of Ram Setu, known in English as Adam’s Bridge.

The film was announced in November 2020 with the principal photography commencing in Mumbai on 30 March 2021. Production suffered setbacks and delays amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming resumed in October 2021 and wrapped up in January 2022 taking place near Ooty, Daman and Diu and Mumbai.

The film is scheduled for a theatrical release on 25 October 2022 during Diwali festivities.

The plot involves an archaeologist, who has set out to check out whether the bridge is a myth or a reality. According to the epic Ramayana (7th century BCE to 3rd century CE), Ram Setu is a bridge built by the god Rama’s army of Vanara to reach Lanka to rescue his wife Sita, who was abducted by Lanka’s Rakshasa king Ravana.

According to a report in The Financial Express, director Abhishek Sharma has been trying to build a plot since 2007 when he became aware of a court case involving Ram Setu. The film is co-produced by Akshay Kumar’s mother Aruna Bhatia and Vikram Malhotra under the production companies Kumar’s Cape of Good Films, Abundantia Entertainment, Lyca Productions and Amazon Prime Video. This is Amazon’s first Bollywood production in India. Aruna Bhatia died in September 2021. Chandraprakash Dwivedi was signed up as the creative producer. Kumar touted the film to be “ a bridge between generations past, present and future “. Co-producer Vikram Malhotra, CEO of Abundantia Entertainment, touted that the film to be “ a story formed on facts, science and historical heritage “.

In early March 2021, media reports confirmed that Jacqueline Fernandez and Nushrratt Bharuccha were signed up to play lead roles in the film opposite Kumar. In June 2021, Satyadev Kancharana revealed that he will be a part of the film marking his debut in Hindi cinema.

The official announcement of the film was made on 14 November 2020 coinciding with Diwali. Earlier reports in December 2020 suggested that the film shooting would take place in Ayodhya and in the proposed film city in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of National Capital Region in Uttar Pradesh. The muhurat shot followed by a puja ceremony by the team was held on 18 March 2021 at Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya. A planned visit to Ram ki Paidi ghats in Ayodhya by the lead actors was cancelled due to a large uncontrolled gathering of people.

In late April 2022, the filmmakers released a poster depicting Akshay Kumar, Satyadev and Fernandez. The poster, which went viral, was soon met with cyber-trolling on social media in the form of memes as Akshay Kumar is seen holding a burning torch while Fernandez is seen holding a powerful torchlight.

Ram Setu: Movie Trailer

Ram Setu: Movie Review

Akshay Kumar film is enjoyable desi take on Indiana Jones

Ram Setu is a throwback to the Hollywood capers from a generation ago, when Harrison Ford or Nicholas Cage would go on a globetrotting adventure to uncover an ancient archaeological secret. Ram Setu takes that genre and blends it with Indian history, mythology, and socio-political commentary. The result is an enjoyable thrill-a-minute ride that is as fun as it is clichéd. But once you look past the flaws in logic, Ram Setu emerges as a fun popcorn adventure, the kind Bollywood hasn’t produced in quite a while.

Ram Setu is about a veteran archaeologist Dr Aryan Kulshreshtha (Akshay Kumar in long hair and a distinguished grey beard), a non-believer, who is tasked with disproving the reality of the Ram Setu, the bridge between India and Sri Lanka described in Valmiki’s Ramayana. However, he finds that the structure may actually be man-made, implying Lord Ram may be historical after all. The film is the story of how Dr Aryan dodges obstacles to find a lost trail in search for Ravana’s golden Lanka, helped by an environmentalist Dr Sandra (Jacqueline Fernandez) and a local Lankan guide AP (Satya Dev).

Akshay Kumar stars in this enjoyable action adventure that manages to overcome its flaws because of a fun story and amazing visuals.

First things first, Ram Setu is enjoyable. It is in parts slick and in other parts, quite thrilling. The credit for that goes to a good story backed by some of the best background score used in a Hindi film this year. The VFX and CGI are questionable indeed, as the trailer had indicated. The scenes with the diving suit are cartoonish, almost. But what makes up for that is the stunning underwater sequences. The way director Abhishek Sharma has captured the beauty and grandeur of Ram Setu under the Indian Ocean is reminiscent of BBC Earth’s Blue Planet documentary.

Ram Setu works best, when the protagonists are out on the field, in the thick of the action. As Dr Aryan and his comrades search for the historical evidence for Lord Ram’s tale, the viewer is engaged. But it falters the moment there is a lull in the action. We suddenly begin to notice how people can barge into the Supreme Court of India with an ‘I object milord’ and not get arrested (or shot). We notice how Akshay’s character is the only one doing any deduction and thinking and everyone else is just along for the ride, hardly contributing much. And we also notice small continuity errors, like Akshay’s beard changing into a stubble and then back again in successive scenes.

Akshay Kumar is given a golden opportunity in this film. His character – Dr Aryan – is unlike anything he has done in the recent past. He is an atheist, who needs to be converted to the cause. He looks different, talks different, and is conceptualized in a much different manner than many of his recent roles. His recent filmography has often been criticized to contain many public service announcements disguised as motion pictures. Ram Setu gives him a chance to do something different.

Sadly, the women in the film haven’t even been given that freedom to do something differently, or do anything at all. Jacqueline’s character is reduced to looking good and uttering some scientific terms every 20 minutes or so to justify her place on the ‘expedition’. Nushrrat Bharuccha fares even worse because her character is reduced to the shrieking wife, hardly contributing anything to the plot or the other characters. It is a letdown for the actor after a rather strong outing in Janhit Mein Jaari just a few months ago.

The surprise package of the film for me was Pravesh Rana. As the muscle to Nasser’s corrupt businessman, he is the film’s primary antagonist. And he plays that role perfectly, bringing enough menace and charm in what is essentially a filler role. The other highlight of the film is Satya Dev. Even though his character AP is written as a stereotypical Lankan with the clichéd accent, he brings through his performance enough charm and humour for the role to stand out. Between this and GodFather, the actor seems to be having quite a good year.

In tone and tenor, Ram Setu is similar to a sleeper hit from earlier this year – Karthikeya 2. That one was about finding the historicity of Lord Krishna and this one is about Lord Ram. The action, pacing, and other elements are also similar. But the films differ in scale. Ram Setu, with its reported ₹150-crore budget towers above the Telugu film, which was made in ₹30 crore as per reports. But it is, perhaps, a good thing that Ram Setu reminds one of a successful film from the south this year.

Ram Setu takes the best from the Indiana Jones and National Treasure schools of storytelling and injects some desi action in it. Sadly, it also injects Bollywood’s melodrama. Once you manage to look past all that though, Ram Setu takes you on a fun ride.

• Stumbleupon

Tags 2022 Bollywood Movies Review 2022 Indian Films Review 2022 Popular Action Movies 2022 Popular Adventure Movies 2022 Popular Drama Movies Action Movies Review Adventure Movies Review Bollywood Action Films Bollywood Action Movies Review Bollywood Adventure Films Bollywood Adventure Movies Review Bollywood Drama Films Bollywood Drama Movies Review Bollywood Films Review Bollywood Movies Review Drama Movies Review Hindi Action Films Hindi Action Movies Review Hindi Adventure Films Hindi Adventure Movies Review Hindi Drama Films Hindi Drama Movies Review Hindi Films Review Hindi Movies Review Indian Action Films Indian Action Movies Review Indian Adventure Films Indian Adventure Movies Review Indian Drama Films Indian Drama Movies Review Indian Films Review Indian Movies Review Top 10 Action Movies Top 10 Adventure Movies Top 10 Bollywood Movies Top 10 Drama Movies

Related Articles

Crew: 2024 Indian Hindi Heist Comedy Film Trailer, Review, Song

18 hours ago

Razakar: The Silent Genocide of Hyderabad – 2024 Telugu Film

Vedaa: 2024 Hindi Action Thriller Film, Trailer, Review, Songs, Story

JNU: Jahangir National University – 2024 Indian Hindi Drama Film

Madgaon Express: 2024 Hindi Comedy Film, Trailer, Review, Songs

Bastar: The Naxal Story – 2024 Indian Hindi Film on True Incidents

Article 370: 2024 Indian Hindi Political Thriller Action Drama Film

Article 370 : Movie Name Directed by: Aditya Suhas Jambhale Starring: Yami Gautam, Priyamani, Skand …

• Apple’s New Vision Pro: Impressive Features for the Next Generation
• Bollywood movie preview: Mirg
• Gene Goodenough: The Multitasking Marvel Behind Preity Zinta’s Success
• India’s ETF Revolution: Navigating Diverse Markets and Seizing Opportunities
• Apple to Unveil Highly Anticipated iOS 18 Update

Spotlife Asia

Bringing you closer to the stories that matter

Movie Review: Ram Setu

Rating:  1 of 5

Star Cast:  Akshay Kumar, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Jacqueline Fernandez, Satyadev Kancharana, Jeniffer Piccinato, Nassar, Pravesh Rana

Director : Abhishek Sharma

Ram Setu is the story of an archeologist’s life-changing expedition. You get all about Abhishek Sharma‘s story in the trailer itself, and the film is not exactly what you’d imagine but way worse. Abhishek Sharma’s story is very promising and has all the ingredients of a blockbuster. Abhishek Sharma’s screenplay, however, is a mixed bag. While some scenes are well thought of, several sequences are silly and convenient. Abhishek Sharma and Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s dialogues are simple and sharp.

Nushrratt Bharuccha & Jacqueline Fernandez make zero impact on what’s happening in the film, which is a sad state (and film) to be in. Satyadev Kancharana’s character is the most illogical among the lot only pretending to be redeemed by a jarring twist in the end. Jeniffer Piccinato, Nassar & Pravesh Rana add to the mediocrity of the supporting cast. Akshay Kumar looks quite dashing in his new look and performance-wise, he’s first-rate. Follow SpotLife ASIA for the latest news and updates .

Daniel B. George tries to be weirdly experimental with the background score starting with a generic Arabic set piece to a strange usage of trumpets in the score. It works in some places but falters in others. The songs used in the background are not even passable to forget about them.

On the whole, Ram Setu rests on an interesting premise and a well-executed climax. However, the film suffers majorly due to a lack of a convincing plot and poor VFX. At the box office, it will need strong positive word of mouth to sustain, especially after a not-so-encouraging opening.

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
• ← NFC East takes NFL by storm in early, plot twist-filled, 2022 season  
• Fubo Sports Network Signs Multi-Year Renewal →

You May Also Like

Movie Review: Begum Jaan, Balan’s war against Patriarchy

Movie Review: Love Aaj Kal 2

Iifa 2015 highlights video, subscribe to our newsletter.