Maybe the pop rock tunes don’t offer any devotional value, but the delightful score will surely appeal to the millennials.

By Mayur Lookhar

“The power of the sun is in my palm,” said Dr. Otto Octavius in Spider-Man 2 [2004]. Unfortunately, for him, the mortal couldn’t control the power and that eventually proved to be his undoing in Sam Raimi’s Spiderverse.

Shiva, our desi hero from Brahmastra [2022] doesn’t have the power of the sun, but he sure has all the fire with him. Importantly, he’s learnt to harness that fire within him.

The Deva Deva song from Brahmastra [2022] marks the moment in Shiva’s [Ranbir Kapoor] life where he truly realizes his gift of fire. Guruji [Amitabh Bachchan] enlightens Shiva with the fact he himself is an astra [weapon]. The mere mortal can’t hide his joy, and he is seen playing around with fire like a child. There is the odd blip, too, but it is all part of learning to control a dangerous element like fire. Play with fire, you get burnt certainly doesn’t hold true for Shiva. The Om Dev Deva chant is Shiva thanking and praising the lord for the gift he bestowed upon him.

The first half of the track is about igniting the fire within, but the second half transcends into romance. Quite a contrast, but the melody, rhythm remains the same.  The romantic verse [lyrics] doesn’t quite hit you.  Perhaps, Shiva is thanking the lord for the two gifts in his life – fire and Isha [Alia Bhatt]. Interestingly, the reel life couple do the traditional pheras around the bonfire [mostly lit by Shiva] in the Bulgarian woods.  So, Ranbir and Alia were first married during this song sequence.

Don’t freak out watching Ranbir run around in ice clad mountain in a vest. He is after all, fire himself. No ice can melt him.

Over all, Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics are decent. The visuals are self-explanatory. Having watched the song preview few days ago in 3D, we recommend you to watch the film in the 3D format to experience its visual treat. Ranbir’s boyhood charm is writ large in the song. This is not quite vintage Arijit Singh, but composers seldom look beyond him for desi pop rocks, ballads. Jonita Gandhi has very little to offer in the song. It would be unfair to judge her singing in the truncated version. Her lines could have been better though.

No criticism, but there is one interesting thing with the music. Usually any song on divine/spiritual beings or mere mention of them, tend to play to devotional tunes. Amit Trivedi had composed a beautiful new age Shiva chant Namo Namo in Kedarnath [2018].  That song, its music gave a sense of praying to the deity in a temple. Deva Deva completely plays to pop rock tunes. Director Ayan Mukerji agreed with us in saying that the contemporary, western tunes was composed [by Pritam] keeping the youth in mind. The director didn’t shy from saying that he’d want Deva Deva to be played in discos, or parties, social functions.  While not all devotees maybe in sync with this, but hey, Lord Shiva is the creator of Tandav [divine dance].  Ayan Mukerji’s Shiva surely entertains us with his own Tandav.

All due respect to Kesariya fans, but it is Deva Deva that is the better track from Brahmastra [2022].

Watch the song below. Brahmastra [2022] is set to be released on 9 September in theatres.