Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt's Brahmastra Part 1 Shiva directed by Ayan Mukherjee hit the screens a couple of days back. The film's star-studded cameos from Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, and Nagarjuna generated interest among movie lovers. Ayan Mukherjee claimed that the film is a fictional story inspired by Hindu mythology.
Already Brahmastra team is facing heat from the boycott brigade as Ayan Mukherjee earlier revealed that he planned to name the film as Dragon and Ranbir Kapoor and shared 'First, he was Rumi. Rumi with long hair. This image is from an early look test for the movie.Rumi said, ‘Love is the bridge between you and everything...’, and that feeling is the foundation we started building the protagonist of this movie on... But then, there was new inspiration, newer thoughts... Dragon became Brahmāstra, we gave Ranbir a haircut, and Rumi became... Shiva.#brahmastra #shivadiaries #memories #creativeprocess #evolving"
Ayan Mukerjee later explained "“When ‘Dragon’ was the title of the film, that time, we had not thought about it. Shiva, in the film, has the power of fire, so I wrote the name ‘Dragon’ in the script. But the film was always rooted and inspired by Indian culture and history. So when the time came to give the title, Brahmastra was always the right title for the film.”
The makers referred to various astras like Vanarastra, Nandi Astra, Prabhastra, Jalastra, Pawanastra, Agnyastra and Brahmastra in the film but in the process, many feel that they made a mockery of Hindu mythology and scriptures and came up with a silly take on astras. Even if the story is fiction, when Ayan Mukherjee used the name of real astras, there is no need for him to use the words like Vanaraastra (Monkey) for Shah Rukh Khan, Nandiastra (Bull) for Nagarjuna. The astras are supremely powerful but in the film it was shown that the antagonists snatch them from Shah Rukh Khan and Nagarjuna in a jiffy. Those who are aware of the Hindu scriptures claim that there are no such astras as Vanaraastra or Nandiastra though there are many astras in the names of animals like Nagaastra, Naga Pasha, and Garudastra.