You need to know these Brahmastra facts before you watch the film!

You might be eagerly waiting for this larger-than-life film that's made for the first time in India but here are some Brahmastra facts you'd definitely like to know about before!

A dream project with a 400-crore budget, an exceptional stellar cast, a brand new cinematic universe, and probably the biggest film of the season, Brahmastra, will be released tomorrow. The advance booking in theatres has already surpassed Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 which had the largest opening at the box office in Bollywood this year. The anticipation is high because a lot is riding on this film! Given how none of the big films have worked well previously at the box office, it's quite impertinent that this one does numbers for Bollywood. Secondly, this is the first time ever that such a sci-fi fantasy universe filled with VFX is being produced in Bollywood on such a large scale, hence even the audience's expectation is high. But other than that the film had its own journey which is 11 years long and here are some Brahmastra facts that you might not know about!

While being in news from the time, it has been announced till the point of release how it's largely compared to marvel, the whole love storiyaan debacle and amidst all boycotts, Brahmastra has been on its own journey of struggles. From taking 11 years to make, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor getting married and announcing that they're pregnant to many cameos, there are many known-unknown facts about this astraverse that have become a cultural phenomenon!
(All facts have been released by the director, actors, or the makers in launches and interviews)

Also Read: #BingeLens: Looking at Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra and Zoya Akhtar’s The Archies from the lens of debates on Social Media

Check out these Brahmastra Facts!

Ayan Mukherji got this idea while making Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

In 2011, while working in Shimla for Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, and moved by the spirituality guide of the mountains, Ayan Mukherji started working on this story idea for which he had been getting visual manifestation of the astral images flashing in his head since childhood.

Mythological Trilogy (Astraverse)

Mythology has always fascinated Ayan and he has always been connected to the spiritual part of our culture hence this entire universe which will comprise of three-part film series is deeply rooted in the mythology of our country. It took him 6 years to bring forth Brahmastra after the ideation. It has already been disclosed that he will spend the next 10 years bringing in the next in line in this trilogy.

Brahmastra's World

A group of sages in the Himalayas perform deep meditation and are rewarded with Brahma Shakti (the light of the universe), from which a set of astras (weapons) emerge containing elemental or natural energy: jalastra (water), pawanastra (wind), agnyastra (fire), and more. The sages call themselves the Brahmansh (custodians of these astras) and use their powers for the good of the world. Their wisdom and powers are passed down the generations and when the Brahmansh get together, each member's astra exudes an energy beam that combines to form a neon whirlpool of energy. Brahmastra (the most powerful astra that carries the essence of all the other astras). There’s also the vanarastra (with the power of a “super monkey”), nandi astra (with the power of a thousand bulls), and the prabhastra (wielded by Amitabh Bachchan’s character). Shiva (Ranbir Kapoor) is an embodiment of the agnyastra, unknown to himself and a tribute to the Hindu god, Shiva.

Title of the film and the name of Ranbir's character

It has been revealed already that earlier the name of the film was Dragon and the lead character's name was initially Rumi but to give a look to the character, it was later changed to Shiva.

The delay in the making of the film

After the announcement of the film in 2014 which was supposed to release in 2016, the film faced many setbacks. First Ranbir Kapoor got busy with Sanju, and then in 2017, Alia, and the rest of the cast joined in on the team. There were bouts of shoots in Bulgaria (2018), London, Edinburgh, and Varanasi (2019) for the film later to be released in Dec 2019 with the logo launch at the Kumbh Mela (2019) on the occasion of Maha Shivratri. But with the ambitious VFX and scale, the film couldn't be completed and needed reshoots often and with COVID-19 hanging as a sword, the film kept on getting delayed until it finally finished in March 2022 and was slated for a release on Sept 9, 2022.

VFX of Brahmastra was done by the studio that worked on Dune

The visual effects of the film have been done by a British-Indian special effects studio, DNEG. They have seven Oscars to their name with projects including movies like Dune (2021), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and Inception (2010), as well as the recent series, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022). Brahmastra is DNEG’s first Indian project which raises the expectation of the film even more.

Its connection with the South

SS Rajamouli is associated with the film and will be presenting the film in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam languages other than Hindi. The film also marks Nagarjuna’s comeback to Bollywood after almost two decades.

Cameos of Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone

Other than Ranbir, and Alia the film also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Mouni Roy, and Nagarjuna in pivotal roles. But since the release of the teaser, the speculation of Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan having their cameos in the film is running around which got respective fans excited. While Shah Rukh Khan's cameo is confirmed by Mouni Roy herself, Ayan has outrightly denied Deepika being a part of the film.

Given the ambitious scale of the project and no previous experience, this is a huge gamble played by Dharma productions at 400 crores, the highest they have put in any film. Ranbir and Alia have also invested in the film monetarily. Called India's own Marvel, it's very important to know that Brahmastra is nowhere inspired by that universe nor any other sci-fi superhero fantasy universe of the west. It's Indian cinema’s first ever indigenous supernatural fantasy spectacle and has Ayan’s own take on the link between the universes. And we can't wait to see Mukherji's Astraverse's first part unfold tomorrow!

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