People Media Factory’s Mirai (dubbed from the Telugu film of the same name; UA) is the story of a young man whose mother abandons him at the time of his birth so that he can be the saviour of mankind later.
Ambica (Shriya Saran) leaves her newborn child and goes away because a sage has told her that her newborn child would be the saviour of mankind if she made this sacrifice. The child grows up to be a dashing young man, Veda (Teja Sajja). Twenty-four years after his birth, Vibha (Rithika Nayak) goes in search of Veda to remind him of his mission in life, for which his mother had abandoned him. The ninth holy book needs to be protected by Veda before it comes into the hands of Mahabhir Lama (Manoj Manchu) because if it reaches the latter, he would wreak havoc on mankind. How Veda rises to the occasion and finds a magical stick — Mirai — which aids him in his mission and how he eliminates Mahabhir Lama forms the crux of the drama.
Karthik Gattamneni and Manibabu Karanam have written a story which mixes fantasy with mythology. The duo’s screenplay is replete with exciting sequences and clap-trap scenes. The second half, especially, abounds in clapworthy sequences as and when Veda achieves success at various points in his mission. How Veda befriends the giant bird, how he finds the magical Mirai, how he prevents a disastrous accident of a speeding train, and how he battles Mahabhir Lama are all breathtaking sequences. Likewise, the action and miracle scenes of Lama are excellent. The writers have used the mother-son emotions wonderfully — and this is a plus point of the screenplay. However, a big minus point is that the drama is too lengthy and sometimes confusing too. Also, the mythology angle does not have the kind of impact it ought to have had. Further, the juxtapositioning of modernity (especially the dialogues used by the young characters in the drama) with the story of yore doesn’t quite sit well with the audience. Dialogues (Rituraj Tripathi, Nikki Kumari and Karanjiv Prem Kumar Sharma) are simple but weighty.
Teja Sajja does an good job as Veda. He is endearing. Manoj Manchu is menacing in the role of Mahabhir Lama. But a known face would’ve worked better for the Hindi film-going viewers. Jagapathi Babu makes a fine mark as Angamabali. Jayaram Subramaniam is nice as Agastya. Shriya Saran performs well as Veda’s mother, Ambica. Rithika Nayak is suitably restrained as Vibha. Getup Srinu is pretty effective as Memesh. Madee Manepalli makes an impact with his able acting as Mapu. Tanja Keller makes a fine impression as Yuca. Kishore Tirumala acts with conviction in the role of C.I. Ashok. Venkatesh Maha is average as Vikram. Nidhi Agerwal is alright as Nasha. Raj (Rajendranath) Zutshi makes his presence felt as Banshi. Pawan Chopra is effective as Professor K.N. Bagchi. Raghu Ram (as Yesu Daddy), Kaarthikeyaa Dev (as the teenaged Lama), Sai Krishna Reddy (as Sridhar), Muskaan Arora (as Zoya), Babloo (as Sunnam), Viva Raghava (as Sebastian), Rathnashekar Reddy (as Kyza), Pushkar (as child Lama), Swastik Bhagat (as child Veda), Deepak Surya Velisetty (as child Subahu), Ryan Joy (as the teenaged Subahu), Gaurav Bora (as Lord Rama), Ayush Mukherjee (as the teenaged Veda), and Aarav Gomes (as the teenaged friend of Veda) provide nice support. Rana Daggubati adds star and surprise value in the end credits scene. Others fit the bill.
Karthik Gattamneni’s direction is good but he should’ve kept the narration more simple. Music (by Gowrahari) and lyrics (Rituraj Tripathi) ought to have been better. The Hindi songs are not popular. Polaki Vijay’s choreography is okay. Gowrahari’s background score is extraordinary. Karthik Gattamneni’s cinematography is superb. Visual effects are lovely. Action and stunt scenes (by Pradit Seeluem, Kecha Khamphakdee, K. Nandu, Real Satish, Sri Master, Robin Subbu, Jashuva, Nabakanta, Amrit Singh, Kishore Varma) are pretty thrilling and exciting. Srinagendra Tangala’s production designing, and Patcharakit Subannasanee’s art direction are of an excellent standard. A. Sreekar Prasad’s editing is sharp, but the film is too lengthy. Dubbing is good.
On the whole, Mirai has some merits, but its very poor start in Hindi is a major dampener. The odd title is another minus point.
Released on 12-9-’25 at Inox (daily 3 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Dharma Productions. Publicity: average. Opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was below the mark at most of the places.