Ram Setu (film)
Ram Setu () is a 2022 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 Rama Setu, also known as Adam's Bridge. 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. Ram Setu was theatrically released on 25 October 2022 during Diwali festivities and opened to negative reviews from critics. The film grossed 93 crore at the worldwide box office, failing to recoup its 110 crore budget. Plot 
An ASI archaeologist, Dr. Aryan Kulshreshtha is a strong believer in scientific facts. He does not believe in God. He has already discovered, with an international team from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Japan, the treasure of Raja Dahir and a large reclining Buddha statue - both near the Buddhas of Bamyan in Afghanistan after their destruction by the Taliban (with Dahir's treasure later being divided between India and Pakistan in Islamabad). In 2007, in an effort by the government to demolish the Rama Setu for building a canal, Aryan is asked to draft a report for the Supreme Court of India showing that the bridge is a natural formation. He initially rejects the offer, not having studied the bridge himself, but after being promised a promotion, he submits a report stating that "Ramayana is an epic fiction, not history" and questions the existence of Rama. His wife Professor Gayatri insists he shouldn't take up the offer. Thus, he is met with complete hostility. In court, the government is humiliated by the report, submitted as an affidavit, as it questions the existence of Rama, and the public is furious. The consequences lead to Aryan getting suspended temporarily. And the hostility later led to Aryan's son's bullying in school and Aryan first hand witnesses the hostility shown by the bully's parents. Meanwhile, Aryan also gets an offer from a rich businessman, Indrakant, Nassar who wants the Rama Setu demolished to save fuel and money for a marine project and he believes due to the existence of Ram Setu, his ships have to travel a long way, hence he wants Ram Setu to be demolished . He tries to persuade Aryan to join an archaeological exploration and research for the Rama Setu. He rejects it, fearing more hostility from the public, but after remembering the incident with his son, he decides to prove the "truth". Aryan hence, accepts the mission and meets project manager Bali and fellow scientists, Dr. Sandra Rebello (Jacqueline Fernandez) and Dr. Gabrielle, who are assigned to work with him. Initial research shows that Rama Setu is 18,000 years old, which is much older than Rama himself, who according to Pushkar Bhatnagar, in Dating The Era of Lord Ram, was born more than 7,000 years ago. This is not enough for Aryan, so he decides to bring another floating rock from the Rama Setu and uses carbon dating to find its age. He also visits deep underwater and finds the coral reefs. This starts to prove that Rama Setu is indeed man-made, about 7000 years ago, and has a possibility of being built by Rama. He reports this to Indrakant, who appreciates Aryan's impartiality towards the mission. However, Indrakant only wants the proof that Rama Setu is older than Rama and hence it is not built by him, so that they can demolish the structure and save money and fuel for their project. He decides to have the trio killed. On another mission to extract more rocks from Rama Setu, Dr. Gabrielle, Dr. Sandra Rebello, and Aryan go deepwater. Suddenly their, submarine stops working and they get stuck, with low oxygen levels, they desperately try to escape. Dr Gabrille acts smart by taking the floating stone along with them as she suspected Bali, in mid sea they are saved by a man on a boat, Anjaneyan Pushpakumaran 'AP' Satya Dev. He rescues them and takes them to a remote island in Sri Lanka, which is currently affected by the ongoing civil war. He agrees to help the trio on their cause. He says that he will help them out, but only for monetary gain. Bali finds that the stone is missing and decides to chase them but AP helps them cross the borders and the stone goes missing in the chase. AP manages to get help of local police who rescue them with a chopper. The trio manage to board the chopper but Gabrielle who happens to stand close to the door is shot by Bali and she falls to death. Aryan now along with Sandra and AP decides to prove the existence of Ram and Ram Setu by doing his research across borders in Srilanka which has existence of Raavana and itself will be a big evidence that Ram Setu was not natural but built by Ram. During an escape attempt, AP falls behind and is presumed dead. Aryan fails in his efforts of finding out who AP actually was. Continuing with everybody's help, Aryan is able to stop the canal's construction and prove in court that the Rama Setu was indeed man-made and the story of Ramayana is true (by finding archaeological evidence of Lanka in Ashok Vatika, Seetha Amman Temple, Ella and Sri Pada in Sri Lanka), that Rama could have existed. Later, while trying to find more details on AP from his leftover bag, Aryan finds a diary full of the phrase "Jai Shri Ram". After analysing the things said by AP and looking at the diary, he slowly comes to the realisation that AP was no ordinary human, but Lord Hanuman in disguise. Further implying that AP is still alive and is in fact immortal and he faked his death to cause Aryan to fetch evidence for Ram Setu's existence without revealing his own identity. 