Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva
Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language fantasy action-adventure film written and directed by Ayan Mukerji. The film is the first instalment of a planned trilogy, which is itself planned to be part of a cinematic universe titled Āstraverse, and stars an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Mouni Roy and Nagarjuna with Shah Rukh Khan in a special appearance. Drawing inspiration from tales in Hindu mythology, the story follows Shiva, an orphaned musician with pyrokinetic powers who discovers that he is an astra, a weapon of enormous energy. He attempts to prevent the strongest of the astras, the Brahmāstra, from falling into the hands of dark forces that share a history with him.
The film was first conceived by Mukerji in 2011, with core elements inspired by Indian history and stories he heard in his childhood. Its development was first revealed in July 2014 with a planned release for 2016, but its official announcement arrived in October 2017 revealing that the film would be titled Brahmāstra and would be a trilogy. Principal photography lasted from February 2018 to March 2022, with filming locations including Bulgaria, London, New York City, Edinburgh, Thailand, Manali, Mumbai and Varanasi. Production and release of the film were delayed multiple times, first due to monetary constraints, and later due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film's songs are composed by Pritam, with soundtrack lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya.
Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva was theatrically released on 9 September 2022 by Star Studios. The film received mixed reviews from critics. It became the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2022 and the sixth highest-grossing Indian film of 2022. Two sequels are in development.
Plot
In ancient India, a group of sages in the Himalayas collide with the energy Brahm-shakti, which produces many celestial weapons of great power called astras. The strongest among them, the Brahmāstra, has the capacity to destroy the world. The sages use their respective astras to tame the unstable Brahmāstra and become the Brahmansh, a secret society to protect the world from the powers of astras.In present-day Mumbai, Shiva, a DJ, falls in love at first sight with Isha Chatterjee, a London resident who is visiting India for the Durga Puja festival at her grandfather's pandal. Soon, Isha reciprocates and expresses her feelings for Shiva. Shiva tells her that he is an orphan who never knew his father, and that his mother died in a fire when he was a baby. Meanwhile, in Delhi, scientist and Brahmānsh member Mohan Bhargav is attacked by Zor and Raftar for a piece of the Brahmāstra he safeguards. Mohan fights back using the Vānarāstra but is ultimately subdued by Junoon, who works for the mysterious evil named Dev. Under Junoon's possession, who uses Vash Mukut, Mohan reveals that the second piece of Brahmāstra is protected by artist and archaeologist Anish Shetty in Varanasi. Before he can reveal the current location and guru of the Brahmānsh, Mohan throws himself out of a balcony.
Shiva has a vision of Mohan's encounter with Junoon, as he has a piece of Agneyāstra tied to his one hand, and Shiva is somehow connected to it. He and Isha head to Varanasi to warn Anish but are interrupted by Raftar, who now wields Mohan's Vānarāstra. Anish defeats him using the Nandi Āstra before escaping with Shiva and Isha. While going to Himachal Pradesh, where Ashram is located, they are chased by Junoon and Zor in a truck. Anish gives the second piece of the Brahmāstra to Shiva and stays to fight Junoon and Zor, only to be killed. Shiva and Isha are chased by Raftar to Ashram where Shiva kills him using his power of fire after he tried to kill Isha. At Ashram, they learn about other astras and Shiva is forced to join Brahmansh by the guru Raghu for information on his parents. He meets other new recruits Rani, Raveena, Sher and Tenzing, who are all trained by Raghu on how to use their respective astras and Shiva also gains control over fire.
As Junoon gets closer to them, Raghu reveals that Shiva is the son of former Brahmansh members, Dev and Amrita. Dev actually awoke the Brahmāstra as he was the only person who was able to control multiple astras at once. Dev's wife Amrita, who wielded the Jalāstra, defeated Dev in a battle on a remote island and both of them seemingly perished in the battle. Amrita's boat was found in the ruins of the battle, brought back from the island, with two broken pieces of the Brahmāstra. The pieces of the Brahmāstra were given to both Mohan and Anish, while the third piece was believed to be missing, with Raghu and Shiva concluding that they both survived the battle. The third piece of the Brahmāstra is in Amrita's Mayāstra disguised as a conch shell, which Raghu releases by dropping Shiva's blood on the conch. Junoon and her army arrive at Āshram for the Brahmāstra and hold everyone hostage. Shiva defeats Junoon while also killing Zor, who wielded Anish's Nandi Āstra and releases everyone. But Junoon manages to take the third piece from Isha, and seemingly sacrifices herself to activate the Brahmāstra. The destruction begins and Isha is in danger, but Shiva gains control over the Brahmāstra with newfound strength stemming from his protectiveness and love of Isha and reunites with her.
In the post credits scene, due to Junoon having activated the Brahmāstra, Dev, who was imprisoned as a statue on an unknown island, is freed.
Cast
Production
Development
The idea of Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva first came to Mukerji in 2011 while writing the script for his second film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Mukerji first announced that he was working on a new project in July 2014. In October 2017, Brahmāstra was officially announced by producer Karan Johar. Mukerji was signed as the director while Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Amitabh Bachchan were set to star. Initially, the film's working title was Dragon, but was officially titled as Brahmāstra in 2017. Mukerji explained that the title Brahmāstra "resonates with the ancient wisdom, energies and power." Mukerji also revealed that it is a "contemporary film with ancient elements." In 2017, Johar revealed his plan to make the film into a film trilogy. The preparation for the film started in January 2018.In an interview, Kapoor stated that Mukerji "has spent six years of his life working really hard to make an original story" and that the trilogy would be made over a period of 10 years and refuted rumours suggesting that it is a romantic superhero film. Instead, Kapoor confirmed that the film is a "romantic fairytale in a supernatural format" and that the film is not something which "doesn't have truth to it, or which is unbelievable". Telugu film actor Nagarjuna also confirmed that he would be playing a "pivotal" role and it marked his return to Hindi cinema after 19 years, following his appearance in 2003 film LOC: Kargil. Mouni Roy revealed in an interview that she is the "only antagonist" in the film.
In June 2022, Mukerji announced the film would be a part of a trilogy franchiseserving as the first instalmentunder the Astraverse, a cinematic universe centered around various mystical astras. In August 2022, Roy confirmed Shah Rukh Khan had a cameo appearance in the film. Khan reprises his character from the film Swades.
Pre-production
Mukerji started work 9 years before the theatrical release. Pre-production work started in 2014 and filming began in 2018. In February 2018, Bachchan and Kapoor did look tests in the presence of Mukerji.Themes
In July 2022, a video was released featuring Mukerji explaining the mystical universe of various astras. He explained how from the Brahm-Shakti, astras were born, which compose all the different energies that are found in nature like Jalāstra, Pawanāstra, and Agnyastra. He also talked about astras that store the powers of different animals like the Vanarāstra, which can give the power of a "divine" monkey to the person who controls it, and the Nandiāstra, which contains the power and strength of a thousand bulls, within itself. The last āstra to emerge from the universe, carrying the collective power of the Brahm-Shakticalled the "lord of all the āstras"is explained to be one of the most powerful celestial weapons of gods in Hindu mythology, the Brahmāstra. Mukerji stated that the core idea was inspired by stories of Hindu mythology he heard in his childhood from his grandfather. Kapoor described the film as an action-adventure about a DJ named Shiva and his journey with his ladylove Isha, and finally something that leads him to his destiny which is the ''Brahmāstra.''Characters
Mukerji revealed that the inspiration behind actor Kapoor's character came from Rumi's phrase "love is the bridge between you and everything", to build the foundation of the film. The character initially had long hair; later, he revealed that the look was scrapped and Kapoor had gotten a haircut instead. Kapoor revealed his experience with look tests for the film, expressing that it is a "tedious job: sticking, removing applying, de-applying, and applying again, until some decision is reached".Filming
began in February 2018 with the commencement of the first schedule of the film on 24 February 2018. The first schedule of the film was wrapped up in Bulgaria on 24 March 2018. The second schedule of filming continued in said country and then London on 8 July 2018, in New York in late July, and then back in Bulgaria by the end of the month. Extensive shooting started on 1 February 2019 at Edinburgh, Scotland. The 20-day schedule started in the Ramnagar Fort and Chet Singh Fort in Varanasi on 30 July 2019. The filming was halted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and later resumed in November 2020. Filming wrapped up on 29 March 2022 in Varanasi. After S. S. Rajamouli's father V. Vijayendra Prasad, proposed some changes in the film to Mukerji, reshoots were conducted for four days.It was reported that the production budget for the film was, which would make it one of the most expensive Indian films and the most expensive Hindi film ever at the time of its release. However, the lead actor Ranbir Kapoor later clarified that the reported budget was for production of all three main instalments of the franchise, and the assets built during the production of the first film will be used in future instalments.