The much-awaited trailer of Brahmastra Part One: Shiva has just dropped and it gives a peek into the VFX-heavy Astraverse, where the heroes of the universe are the safeguard of weapons that harness the power of elements like water (Jal), wind (Vaayu) and fire (Agni) and the celestial weapon Brahmastra, the god of all weapons.
Leading the Astraverse as Shiva is actor Ranbir Kapoor who is initially unaware of the power he possesses, as we can see Shiva saying to Alia Bhatt’s character Isha that he has some unknown relationship with fire and fire can’t hurt him. The trailer also gives a first look at Nagarjuna Akkineni, Amitabh Bachchan and antagonist Mouni Roy’s characters. Akkineni and Bachchan are on the good side, whereas Roy is the harbinger of darkness.
The trailer showcases the various characters harnessing their superpowers which is somewhat like their soul coming out of their body forming a spirit animal full of powers which is larger than life. Overall we get to see a lot of VFX heavy shots in the 2:52 minutes clip, but it lacks to blend seamlessly with the scene. It’s too soon to comment on the VFX but we hope to see some more visuals which are not just limited to the fire and smoke effects as seen in the trailer.
However it’s safe to say that though the Indian audiences have previously seen superhero films like Ra.One and Krrish franchise which has made use of extensive VFX, Brahmastra seems to have taken a step further where such a level of VFX has been seen in Hollywood movies, especially the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC movies.
DNEG is the studio that has worked on the visual effects of the movie, Paul Norris is the production VFX supervisor and George Murphy along with Alexander Seamen and Jaykar Arudra are the VFX supervisors.
Commenting on the fantasy story which profoundly draws inspiration from Indian mythology, director Ayan Mukerji said, “I am probably more affected by things from Indian roots by our gods and goddesses, by stories of Indian history, perhaps more than superheroes. It’s a combination of influences that have affected me in this film.”
To clear confusion and doubts as the similarities are drawn between MCU and Astraverse, Mukerji said, “I am not a superhero nerd. I love some of the superhero films like Avengers and Spiderman… I am not the biggest superhero fan. I would like to say that I am more of a fantasy film fan. And I honestly think Brahmastra is not a superhero film. It is not about a guy wearing a costume and necessarily saving people.”
Ayan Mukerji’s directorial is produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. The movie was announced way back in 2014 and was supposed to release in Christmas 2016, but the film got delayed several times because of various reasons like Ayan Mukerji wanted more time to perfect the VFX of the film, the lead actor Ranbir Kapoor had tested positive for coronavirus, Alia Bhatt had flu and further the covid-19 restrictions imposed by the government on the filming of movies during the pandemic.
After so many roadblocks, the film is finally set to release on 9 September 2022 in multiplexes and is expected to give an all-immersive experience to the audiences through VFX-heavy scenes and captivating background score in 3D as well as 2D. SS Rajamouli, the mastermind behind Baahubali one and two will be presenting Brahmastra in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.
