Brahmastra Part 2 Dev

[Hermila Farquhar]

Thefilm 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.[12] Production and release of the film were delayed multiple times, first due to production delays and monetary constraints, and later due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 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 was using Vash Mukut, Mohan reveals that the second piece of Brahmāstra is protected by an artist and archaeologist named Anish Shetty in Varanasi. Before he can reveal the current location and guru of the Brahmānsh (Ashram), Mohan throws himself out of a balcony.

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[27] 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".[27] 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.[28] Mouni Roy revealed in an interview that she is the "only antagonist" in the film.[29][30]

Mukerji started work 9 years before the theatrical release. Pre-production work started in 2014 and filming began in 2018.[37] In February 2018, Bachchan and Kapoor did look tests in the presence of Mukerji.[38]

Mukerji revealed that the inspiration behind actor Kapoor's character came from Rumi who also inspired the first look of his character. Mukerji also drew inspiration from Rumi's work: "love is the bridge between you and everything", to build the foundation of the film. Later, he revealed that the Rumi-inspired look was scrapped and Kapoor had gotten a haircut instead.[43] 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".[44]

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.[45] The second schedule of filming continued in said country and then London on 8 July 2018,[46] in New York in late July,[47] and then back in Bulgaria by the end of the month.[48][49] Extensive shooting started on 1 February 2019 at Edinburgh, Scotland.[50] The 20-day schedule started in the Ramnagar Fort and Chet Singh Fort in Varanasi on 30 July 2019.[51] The filming was halted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[52] and later resumed in November 2020.[53][54] Filming wrapped up on 29 March 2022 in Varanasi.[55] After S. S. Rajamouli's father, K.V. Vijayendra Prasad, proposed some changes in the film to Mukerji, reshoots were conducted for four days.[56]

In the post-production, it is estimated that 150 crore rupees were spent on VFX by makers.[59] 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.[60] Ranbir and Alia dubbed for their portions in September 2020 in a studio in Bandra.[61]

Pritam composed the soundtrack while composing the background score along with Prasad Shaste, Jim Satya, Meghdeep Bose, Tanuj Tiku & Ketan Sodha,[62] while the songs are produced and mixed by British musician Steel Banglez,[63] with lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya.[64][65] The score was recorded at Synchron Stage Vienna.[66] The song "Rasiya" was sung by singer Tushar Joshi.[citation needed]

On 1 September 2022, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada versions of the "Vision of Brahmāstra" featurette, featuring Rajamouli explain the Astraverse's themes, were released.[144][145] The film's release countdown continued with a clip introducing the Vānarāstra, released the same day, with media outlets speculating it to be part of Shah Rukh Khan's confirmed cameo appearance.[146][147] On 3 September 2022, a pre-release promo was released in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil to announce the opening of advance bookings for tickets in theatres.[148][149] On 4 September, a featurette of the film's action sequences and their filming and choreography, was shared.[150] On 6 September 2022, a 3D exclusive fan preview screening of the film was announced, which was held in Mumbai the day before the film's release, on 8 September with Kapoor, Bhatt, and Mukerji.[151][152][153] Tickets were available via PVR Cinemas' web store, and sold out within minutes of the announcement.[154] A fan-meet and press conference with Mukerji, Kapoor, and Bhatt was also held in New Delhi to promote the film.[155]

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.[167][168] In October 2017, the film was announced for a 15 August 2019 release;[169] Brahmāstra was pushed to Christmas 2019[170] and then to the summer of 2020 due to pending work on the film's visual effects and music.[171] In February 2020, its release date was announced as 4 December 2020.[172] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the release was delayed indefinitely.[173][174] In December 2021, a final release date of 9 September 2022 was announced.[175]

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.[176][177]

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.[178] 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.[179][180]

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, Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ internationally.[181][182]

The film digitally premiered on Hulu in the U.S. 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.[183][184] 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.[185][186]

Simon Abrams of the TheWrap commented that the film plays out as exceedingly familiar superhero fantasy but somehow hasn't nailed the genre.[218] Courtney Howard of Variety called the film "a wildly entertaining jump start to a planned trilogy" and was appreciative of Mukerji's direction: "He smashes up genre conventions as Western cinematic influences readily co-mingle with pure Bollywood razzle-dazzle."[219] Conversely, Scott Mendelson from Forbes rated the film 4 out of 10 and commented that "despite strong production values and the expected larger-than-life razzle-dazzle, this first entry in India's first original cinematic universe repeats the same mistake that doomed Universal's Dark Universe and most other post-Avengers attempts at a cinematic universe."[220] Mike McCahill of The Guardian rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Mukerji brings a peppy, wide-eyed spirit to the superhero-movie model, adorning tried-and-tested arcs and beats with workable Pritam songs, ravishing colours and gorgeous people".[221] IndieWire rated the film C+ in a mixed review criticising the cast and performances, calling them "bloated" and concluded by stating it as an admirable attempt and unmissable theatrical experience for any Bollywood fan.[222]

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 discussed plans regarding the film's potential cinematic universe with 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.[232][233] 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.[232]

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