The extravagant action-adventure-mythological Mirai gives Teja Sajja, the star of Hanu-Man (2024), a similar character – a thief and scrap dealer who is unaware of his superpowers until he is called upon to save the world.
Directed by Karthik Gattamneni and co-written with Manibabu Karanam, Mirai starts with an animated Emperor Ashoka. Repentant after the Kalinga carnage, Ashoka divides his life force into eight books that are given for safekeeping to eight warriors in different countries.
The secret of the hiding place of the ninth and most important book is known only to Ambica (Shriya Saran), who lives in an ashram in the Himalayas and has the power of prophecy. Whoever gets the ninth book, along with the other eight, can achieve immortality. To prevent the destruction she has foreseen, Ambica abandon her son Veda (Teja Sajja), who lands up in Hyderabad.
The villain Mahabir Lama (Manoj Manchu) has been capturing the books one by one. For no ostensible reason, Lama is accompanied by a “professor” whose job is to look awed by his exploits.
It’s only a matter of time that he is pitted against Veda. Before encountering Lama, Veda must contend with an English-speaking “lady villain” (Tanja Keller). Other characters too, inexplicably switch to English lines.
The mind-reading young woman Vidhi (Rithika Nayak) comes looking for Veda to convince him that he is the chosen one. Chased by cops, again for no real reason, Veda has to find the magical stick called Mirai, which is protected by a giant vulture that is supposedly Sampati, the brother of Jatayu from the Ramayana.
Mirai is set in present times but retains the who-knows-when vagueness of comic book-styled films. Cars, a train and a helicopter are part of the universe, but hardly any other modern gizmos. The ashram communicates with the outside world via pigeon post.
Mirai does have an overstuffed script, with the main purpose being to pack the 165-minute film with as much CGI-aided action as possible. Mirai starts out as entertaining, but Gattamnaneni makes it so heavy going, with loud background music and Sanskrit chants (by Gowra Hari) constantly on, that the film loses the boyish flair that Sajja brings to his scenes. Surprisingly, there are no songs.
The visual effects and fight sequences are impressive most of the time, as is Sringendra Tangala’s lavish production design. The plodding pace is occasionally enlivened by a truly thrilling scene, such as a narrow escape, or the arrival of an unexpected ally.
The film gets increasingly fanciful, what with Veda managing to communicate with his missing mother. Lama’s backstory is given too much time. He wants to acquire the power the books bestow but not for the reason one might expect. There is an odd touch of the secular in a film that bases so much of its story on sadhus, tantriks, magic and mythology. What the Mirai turns out to be is an audience-pleasing surprise.
Along with Sajja, Manchu and Saran, actors like Jagapathi Babu and Jayaram Subramaniam appear in heavy costumes. Rana Daggubati drops in for a cameo. Raghu Ram and Rajendranath Zutshi have supporting roles.
Mirai goes by the current trend of making expensive spectacles – a couple of times, a character compares it to an “English picture” – with an added garnish of mythology. The ambitious scale is worthy of appreciation.
You’ve read Scroll.
Now help sustain it
Scroll is funded by readers, not corporate owners. If you believe our work matters, support our newsroom. Become a member today!
We’re not driven by clicks or corporate interests – just honest, independent reporting. Keep us going. Support Scroll today!