Brahmāstra Part One: Shiva

Produced by Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Hiroo Yash Johar, Namit Malhotra and Mukerji (in his debut production) – under Dharma Productions, Starlight Pictures and Prime Focus in association with Star Studios, along with Ranbir Kapoor and Marijke DeSouza. The film serves as the first installment of a planned trilogy, which is itself planned to be part of a cinematic universe titled Āstraverse, and stars an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Mouni Roy and Akkineni Nagarjuna while Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone appear in cameo roles. The film’s songs are composed by Pritam, with soundtrack lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya. Drawing inspiration from tales in Hindu mythology, the story follows Shiva, an orphan musician with pyrokinetic powers who discovers that he is an astra, a weapon of enormous energy. He attempts to prevent the strongest of the astras, the Brahmāstra, from falling into the hands of dark forces that share a history with him.

The film was first conceived by Mukerji in 2011, with core elements being 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. Production and release of the film was delayed multiple times, first due to production delays and monetary constraints, and later due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva was theatrically released on 9 September 2022. It was the first production released under the Star Studios name following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney. The film received mixed reviews with praise for the performances, visual effects, soundtrack, musical score and action sequences while criticism was directed towards the dialogue. It became the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2022 and fifth highest-grossing Indian film of 2022. Two sequels are being developed simultaneously and are slated to be released in December 2026 and December 2027 respectively.

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 disc jockey, 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 (1993).

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.

Shiva has a vision of Mohan’s encounter with Junoon, as she has a piece of Agneyāstra tied to her 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 āstras 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. 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. She 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.

Before the credits, due to Junoon having activated the Brahmāstra, Dev, who was imprisoned as a statue on an unknown island, is released.