Brahmāstra Part One: Shiva

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 (Ashram), 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 (pregnant with Dev's child), 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.

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 (2013). 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 franchise – serving as the first instalment – under the Astraverse, a cinematic universe centred 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 (2004).

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 (water), Pawanāstra (wind), and Agnyastra (fire). 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-Shakti – called the "lord of all the āstras" – is explained to be one of the most powerful celestial weapons of gods (or Devas) 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

Principal photography 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 ₹410 crore (US$43 million), 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.

Post-production

In the post-production, it is estimated that 150 crore rupees were spent on VFX by makers. The VFX work was done by DNEG – Prime focus company. Editing was supervised by Prakash Kurup. Jam8 music and sound design studio, led by Pritam, provided sound effects. DNEG and ReDefine's foreign team created visual effects. Chiranjeevi did the voice-over for the Telugu version. Ranbir and Alia dubbed for their portions in September 2020 in a studio in Bandra.

Music

Pritam composed the soundtrack while composing the background score along with Prasad Shaste, Jim Satya, Meghdeep Bose, Tanuj Tiku & Ketan Sodha, while the songs are produced and mixed by British musician Steel Banglez, with lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The score was recorded at Synchron Stage Vienna. The song "Rasiya" was sung by singer Tushar Joshi.. The song Kesariya was sung by singer Arijit Singh.

The film's titular soundtrack album was officially released on 6 October to streaming formats and digital retailers, coinciding with the occasion of Dussehra.

Marketing

On 4 March 2019, the title logo of the film was unveiled at Prayagraj's Kumbh Mela on Mahashivratri. 150 drones were used to light the sky up to form the logo and title of the movie.

The official logo of Brahmāstra was released on the web two days later, while SS Rajamouli – who later served as the film's presenter for its South Indian language versions – and Dhanush presented it in the Telugu and Tamil versions respectively. A forty-second motion logo was also released, with Bachchan's voiceover in it.

In the following weeks, promotional behind-the-scenes videos of the making of the music score for the motion logo, featuring the film's music composer Pritam, and the execution of the title logo's unveiling in the sky, were released.

The following month however, Ayan Mukerji announced the postponement of the release to 2020, and the film logo was deleted from YouTube.

The motion poster of the film with Ranbir Kapoor featuring his character, Shiva, was released on 15 December 2021, while a fan event in support of the poster launch was held in New Delhi, broadcast live by the film's streaming partner, Disney+ Hotstar, on its platform and social media. The poster also announced the release date of part one of the trilogy as 9 September 2022.

This was followed by an event in Hyderabad where the Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada versions of the motion poster were released.

The film was seen as one of the most anticipated Hindi releases of 2022.

On Alia Bhatt's birthday, 16 March 2022, a poster and the first prologue of her character, Isha, were released.

Mukerji, Kapoor and Bhatt were featured in the Byju's "Cricket Live" segment of the post cricket show during the inaugural IPL 2022 game, and Kapoor appeared and announced the game in a television commercial.

Release

Theatrical

Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva was released on 9 September 2022, in standard formats, 3D, IMAX 3D, and 4DX 3D. The film was released by Star Studios in India in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada languages, with Telugu film director S. S. Rajamouli presenting the dubbed versions in the latter four South Indian languages. It is the first film released under the Star Studios name following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney and rebranding of Fox Star Studios. The film was also released in North America by 20th Century Studios and worldwide on the same day by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It was shown in 5000 screens in India and 3000 overseas, for a worldwide total of 8000 screens, the widest for an Indian film.

The film had planned paid previews in the United States on 8 September 2022, a day before its release.

The film was originally planned to release on 23 December 2016 but was delayed by several years owing to production delays and monetary constraints, and later due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In October 2017, the film was announced for a 15 August 2019 release; Brahmāstra was pushed to Christmas 2019 and then to the summer of 2020 due to pending work on the film's visual effects and music.

In February 2020, its release date was announced as 4 December 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the release was delayed indefinitely.

In December 2021, a final release date of 9 September 2022 was announced.

On 2 September 2022, the Delhi High Court, under an interim order, restrained eighteen piracy websites from illegally streaming the film on the Internet, following a lawsuit filed by Star India.

Controversy

Before its release, there were calls for boycotting the film by right-wing Hindu nationalists who were opposed to all films from Bollywood, alleging that anti-Hindu sentiments were prevalent in the industry. An old interview of Kapoor where he had mentioned that he likes eating beef regained traction on social media platforms; cows are venerated in Hinduism. Consequently, Kapoor and Bhatt were stopped from entering the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga in Ujjain by members of the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu nationalist organisation.

Home media

On 17 September 2022, Rebecca Campbell, Chairman of International Content and Operations for Disney, confirmed while speaking with The Economic Times about the success of Disney+ Hotstar that the film will be streaming on Hulu in the US and Japan, Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ internationally.

The film digitally premiered on Hulu in the US and Disney+ Hotstar in India and overall Asia on 4 November 2022. An English dub of the film was also released on the former the same day. The film, alongside its English dub, was released on Disney+ on 7 December 2022. In the English dubbed version, actress Samridhii Shukla lent her voice to Alia Bhatt's character.

Reception

Box office

Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva has grossed ₹320 crore (US$33 million) in India and ₹111 crore (US$12 million) overseas, for a worldwide gross of est.₹431 crore (US$45 million). In the United States and Canada, the film made US$4.5 million from 810 theatres in its opening weekend. With earnings of ₹189 crore in Hindi and ₹213 crore overall worldwide in its first weekend, the film emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi film overseas since the COVID-19 pandemic. It also had the highest domestic weekend for an original Hindi film, and the second-highest for a film with screenings in Hindi after K.G.F: Chapter 2. Box Office India in their year-end report gave Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva a ‘‘hit’’ verdict.

Critical response

Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva received mixed reviews from critics with praise for the VFX, direction, performances of the starcast, soundtrack, background score and action sequences while the screenplay and dialogues received criticism. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 49% of 35 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Ambitious yet uneven, Brahmastra Part One: Shiva offers definite pleasures for Bollywood fans, although the incessant spectacle may ultimately overwhelm many viewers." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 57 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

Avinash Lohana of Pinkvilla rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva is a classic example of ambition meeting vision and an immersive experience that promises entertainment". Amandeep Narang of ABP News rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "Brahmāstra deserves its due respect and place in Indian cinematic history". Rachana Dubey of The Times of India rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Brahmāstra borrows from Indian mythology and folk tales, which is fantastic. The effort and passion invested in creating the universe in this film, replete with minute detailing, are worthy of appreciation". Tushar Joshi of India Today rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and called the film "a solid effort as the first chapter in this trilogy", remarking that the Astraverse "can take on the MCU". Sonil Dedhia of News 18 rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, calling it "a solid and satisfying watch, a well-crafted film", and appreciated Mukerji's vision, saying that it "needs to applauded". Fengyen Chiu of Mashable India rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Brahmāstra is a complete visual feast rooted deep with Indian mythology. Ayan Mukerji has created a landmark moment in Indian cinema with the state-of-the art VFX". Sonal Verma of Zee News rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "The screenplay is filled with love, light, magic, ancient mysticism and mythology. The film has many surprises that will definitely make you go wow". Devesh Sharma of Filmfare rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and encouraged readers to watch Brahmāstra for "its visual appeal" and for "the burning chemistry" between Bhatt and Kapoor.

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and called it "ambitious and entertaining", further stating it "has the makings of a blockbuster of the sort that Bollywood has been desperately seeking for a while". Sukanya Verma of Rediff rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated it as "a work of star-struck ambition and high-octane energy whose razzle-dazzle hits many happy notes". Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva gets the pyrotechnics right but fumbles in creating an emotionally involving alternate reality". Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Brahmāstra constantly tries to make your jaw drop to the floor with the visual effects, but since we never empathize with the characters on screen, it remains a distant spectacle". Rohit Vats of DNA India rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, stating that "Brahmāstra tries hard to present itself as the revelation of deeper truths of humankind but doesn't exactly get there where it wanted to be", and said the film is "grand and has all the tropes of mega Bollywood projects, and is enthralling". Stutee Ghosh of The Quint rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Brahmāstra grabs us in parts. If the unnecessary parts about love and lovers could have been avoided the impact would have been stronger. For now, the sound and light show should suffice". Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times stated, "Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt are electric in this Ayan Mukerji spectacle. The film is a treat for long-waiting fans of Hindi cinema." Anuj Kumar of The Hindu stated "Despite the presence of Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Amitabh Bachchan, the film's writing turns out to be its biggest drawback with all the hype over Indian mythology just being a cosmetic cover".

Future

Circumquel and sequel

At the time of release of the original movie, two sequels were reported to be set to release in 2024 and 2026 due to numerous delays. Brahmāstra: Part Two – Dev will be a circumquel to Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva and Brahmāstra: Part Three – Shiva vs Dev will be a sequel to Brahmāstra: Part Two – Dev respectively. A circumquel will commence from April 2027 and a sequel will also commence from later 2027. Both films will be shot simultaneously.

Streaming television series

Mukerji revealed Disney had sent him to Los Angeles as an attendee for an international studio summit in May 2022, where he presented Brahmāstra, and met American producer Kevin Feige. Mukerji further revealed his vision to develop a streaming television series in the Astraverse, as well as theatrical projects, in a similar vein to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He also called the Astraverse a "large-scale mainstream experiment", saying that he wishes to expand it to gaming, merchandise, virtual reality, and the Metaverse, in the future.

Spin-off

Mukerji revealed a spin-off film based around Shah Rukh Khan's character Mohan Bhargav was in consideration, which would serve as an origin story about how he wielded Vanarastra.