Ram Setu

About the film

Ram Setu (transl. The Bridge of Rama) is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language action-adventure film directed by Abhishek Sharma. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Nushrratt Bharuccha and Satyadev and follows an archaeologist who is investigating the nature of Ram Setu (known as Adam's Bridge in English).

The film was announced in November 2020 with 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 in January 2022 taking place near Ooty, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Maldives and Mumbai.

Plot

Dr Aryan Kulshreshtha, an ASI archaeologist, is a strong believer in scientific facts and an atheist. He, along with an international team from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Japan, discovers the treasure of Raja Dahir and a large reclining Buddha statue near the Buddhas of Bamyan in Afghanistan after their destruction by the Taliban. The treasure is later divided between India and Pakistan in Islamabad.

In 2007, Aryan was asked to draft a report for the Supreme Court of India on the natural formation of the Ram Setu to support the government's canal project. Initially reluctant, he submits a report stating that the Ramayana is a work of fiction, which questions the existence of Rama. This causes public outrage, leading to Aryan's suspension.

Aryan receives an offer from a businessman, Indrakant, who wants the Ram Setu demolished to save fuel for a marine project. He persuades Aryan to join a mission to research the origins of the Ram Setu. Aryan, along with Dr Sandra Rebello and Dr Gabrielle, discovers that the Ram Setu is around 18,000 years old, which predates Rama himself. Further investigation reveals that the structure might have been man-made around 7,000 years ago, possibly built by Rama. Aryan reports this to Indrakant, who reveals his true intent of demolishing the Ram Setu for economic gain and orders their assassination.

Production

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 Rama 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 as the creative producer. Kumar described the film as "a bridge between generations past, present and future". Co-producer Vikram Malhotra, CEO of Abundantia Entertainment, touted the film as "a story formed on facts, science and historical heritage".

The film team consulted the book Dating The Era of Lord Ram (2004), as well as experts in archeology and other areas. It was produced by Prime Video in association of Cape of Good Flims and Mahavir Jain Flims and produced by Abundantia Entertainment.

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 revealed that he will be a part of the film, marking his debut in Hindi cinema.

Soundtrack

The music of the film is composed by Ajay-Atul, Vikram Montrose, Ved Sharma and Dr. Zeus. Lyrics are penned by Irshad Kamil, Manoj Muntashir, Shekhar Astitwa and Baljit Singh Padam. The film score is composed by Daniel B. George.

Marketing

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. In October, the filmmakers released a mobile game featuring the main characters of the film–Dr. Aryan Kulshrestha, Sandra and AP.

Release

In June 2022, reports surfaced claiming that Ram Setu would have an OTT release instead of a theatrical release. Some reports claimed that this was due to underperformance of Kumar's earlier films–Samrat Prithviraj (2022) and Bachchhan Paandey (2022). The filmmakers clarified the reports to be inauthentic and that the film would have a theatrical release. The film was released on 25 October 2022 under Zee Studios Worldwide Release, during Diwali festivities.

The film began streaming on Amazon Prime Video from 23 December 2022.

Reception

Ram Setu opened in theaters to expectations from trade analysts of having a good opening at the box office given the release during the holiday season surrounding Diwali. The film competed with the Ajay Devgn-starred Thank God, which was released on the same day, and managed to gain higher share of the box office collections. During its earlier run, the film, which was released a day after Diwali, took advantage of the festive-season holidays; however the collections fell short of expectations of analysts. The film collected ₹15.25 crore at the domestic box office on its opening day and ₹11.4 crore on its second day. It became the second biggest opening in terms of box office collections for the year with Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva in the lead. The film has grossed ₹85.56 crore domestic and ₹7.38 crore overseas taking the worldwide collection of ₹92.94 crore as of 24 November.

Key details