An orphaned musician discovers he is a living weapon of fire. Eleven years in the making, Brahmastra became the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2022 and the first chapter of an ambitious Indian fantasy universe.
Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva is a 2022 Hindi-language fantasy action-adventure film written and directed by Ayan Mukerji. It is the first installment of a planned trilogy, itself intended to be part of a cinematic universe titled the Astraverse. The ensemble cast includes Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Mouni Roy and Nagarjuna, with Shah Rukh Khan in a special appearance.
Drawing on Hindu mythology, the story follows Shiva, an orphaned DJ and musician with pyrokinetic powers who learns he is an astra, a weapon of enormous energy. He sets out to keep the most powerful of the astras, the Brahmastra, from falling into the hands of dark forces connected to his own past. The film opens with a secret society called the Brahmansh, formed by sages who tamed the unstable Brahmastra.
The film had an unusually long gestation. Mukerji first conceived it in 2011, with core elements inspired by Indian history and stories from his childhood. Its development was first revealed in July 2014 with a planned 2016 release, but the official announcement came only in October 2017, when the title and the trilogy plan were confirmed. Principal photography stretched from February 2018 to March 2022.
Filming spanned a wide range of locations, including Bulgaria, London, New York City, Edinburgh, Thailand, Manali, Mumbai and Varanasi. Production and release were delayed multiple times, first by monetary constraints and later by the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was produced by a group that included Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Hiroo Yash Johar, Namit Malhotra, Ayan Mukerji, Ranbir Kapoor and Marijke DeSouza, under Dharma Productions and associated companies.
The cast played a network of astra-wielders. Amitabh Bachchan portrayed Raghu, the guru and leader of the Brahmansh; Ranbir Kapoor played Shiva, who carries the fire astra within himself; Alia Bhatt played Isha Chatterjee, an NRI from London and Shiva's love interest; and Mouni Roy played the antagonist Junoon. The songs were composed by Pritam, with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The running time is 167 minutes.
Brahmastra was theatrically released on 9 September 2022 by Star Studios. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Commercially, it emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2022 and the sixth highest-grossing Indian film of that year, with the Wikipedia entry citing an estimated worldwide gross in the range of 401.7 to 431 crore rupees against a reported budget of 375 to 400 crore rupees.
The film is structured to continue. A post-credits scene shows the imprisoned villain Dev being freed after Junoon activates the Brahmastra, setting up future chapters. The Wikipedia entry notes that both a circumquel and a sequel are in development, keeping the Astraverse alive as a planned multi-film arc.
Reported from the English Wikipedia entry on Brahmastra: Part One - Shiva.
