‘Brahmāstra’ Trailer: Ayan Mukerji Gives Us Our First Peek Into His Astraverse, And It Is Goosebumps-Inducing
If we collected all the energy generated by the anticipation around the Brahmāstra trailer, yeah that would practically be enough for a full-on Astra, no? The first part of the Astraverse trilogy that director Ayan Mukerji has been nurturing for around a decade, Brahmāstra boasts of a cast that includes Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna and Mouni Roy, amongst others. But more importantly, the film’s subject matter, the scale, the sheer ambition, and the time it has taken to even give a glimpse of the project has resulted in a tremendous hype around the film. Not to mention, we get to see Ranbir and Alia together in a film for the first time. Well, the wait ends for the fans. You can breathe, guys. The Brahmāstra Part One: Shiva trailer is here.
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And we have thoughts, of course! Right off the bat, this one is going to be a whole lot of light and a whole lot of unpacking for those who are not aware of what the Astras (weapons of divine energy) in Hindu mythology are. And the scale is definitely massive, making it look unlike anything we’ve seen come from India before.
Brahmāstra, which Ayan Mukerji describes as a modern myth, is set in modern-day India, where an ancient secret society called the Brahmānsh exists. Their task for generations has been to protect several divine ‘Astras’ (weapons) that were created in ancient India, and safeguard them from us regular folk. These Astras are powered by elemental forces, of course. And the most powerful and deadly Astra of them all, aka the Lord of all the Other Astras, is called Brahmāstra. is now waking up, threatening to completely destroy the universe.
Brahmāstra Part One is poised to be the story of Shiva, an oprhan, who has this inexplicable connection with fire, which doesn’t burn him like it would us. He meets Isha, they fall in love, and life is all kesariya until Shiva’s ‘connection’ with fire reveals his much larger destiny and connection to the Brahmānsh and the Brahmāstra, and of course the journey of his discovery and mastery of his own power of fire. Every hero needs a nemesis, and here there are dark powers at play, led by Mouni Roy’s character.
Yep, that is a lot to take in, no? And there are so many questions too. But we have time till the film releases to get our basics right.
As someone who is obsessed with Indian mythology and this genre of films, my first reaction to the trailer (which I had the chance to watch on the big screen) was an instant fascination and curiosity about Shiva’s story. I guess it’s the writer in me. I cannot wait to know more about Big B’s character, who seems like the Grandmaster of this secret society. As for Nagarjuna, he is definitely like Shiva, as we see him channel some of his power, perhaps Vayu? And Mouni Roy really gets her evil act going, taking her experience of playing Naagin to the big leagues with dramatic flair.
The next immediate attention was drawn to the visuals, which no doubt, look grand. Scenes like the one of the golden monkey-like creature in the night sky or even Shiva’s grand fire form in that final shot look amazing! It leaves no doubt that this is a film you have to experience on the big screen. As someone who has seen even the trailer on it, I assure you it is a whole different effect to watch it that way.
I am still a little skeptical about the special effects on this one in terms of finesse; we’ve seen way too much in world cinema and our standards are clearly set as per the West to very high. The comparisons are going to be inevitable. That being said, it in no way takes away from the ambitious vision that you actually see on screen that Mukerji and his team has mounted. Coupled with the thumping background music of shlokas, the goosebumps do come!
Also Read: Brahmāstra Song ‘Kesariya’ Ft. Alia Bhatt And Ranbir Kapoor Is Out And Fans Are Loving Every Beat Of It
I am going to hold off on the Ranbir-Alia chemistry verdict. I mean, they’re cute and all, but I wanna see more, like the entire Kesariya song, for starters to be able to tell you if I ship Shiva-Isha. They’re mostly talking about the powers in the trailer, and not themselves. This brings me to my final apprehension. The film is set in contemporary times, and talks about ancient mythical weapons, heroes, and villains. Natually, given the subject matter, dialogues tread a very precarious line of either being too modern or a bit old-school. And I guess it is the latter from what I hear in the trailer. Balancing those out to sound organic is going to be a problem. But we shall wait for the film to deliver our final judgements!
All in all, Brahmāstra feels a very original Indian story, with an Indian comicbook feel, that I cannot wait to watch for the sheer ambition and scale and just how amazing it would be to have something like this, a true-born fantasy franchise, come from India.
Produced by Star Studios, Dharma Productions, Prime Focus and Starlight Picture Brahmāstra will be releasing in 5 Indian languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, with S.S. Rajamouli presenting the film in the latter four South-Indian languages.
Brahmāstra Part One: Shiva releases in theatres on September 9, 2022.
