General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20268 min read

Brahmastra Part One: Shiva

Brahmāstra Part One: Shiva is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language fantasy adventure film written and directed by Ayan Mukerji, and the first installment of a planned trilogy set in the Astraverse, an original cinematic universe built on concepts and tales from Indian mythology but placed in the modern world¹^•². It stars Ranbir Kapoor as Shiva, a DJ who discovers a connection to the Brahmāstra, the most powerful of the Astras, divine weapons protected since ancient times by a secret society called the Brahmānsh². Released on 9 September 2022 in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada, the film grossed about US$53 million worldwide and was the biggest Hindi hit of 2022¹^•³. At the 70th National Film Awards it won Best Film in AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comic) and Best Music Direction (Songs) for Pritam⁴.

Key fact	Detail
Release	9 September 2022, theatrically, in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada¹
Director and writers	Written and directed by Ayan Mukerji, with dialogue by Hussain Dalal⁵
Principal cast	Ranbir Kapoor (Shiva), Alia Bhatt (Isha), Amitabh Bachchan (Guru), Mouni Roy (Junoon), Nagarjuna Akkineni (Anish Shetty), with Shah Rukh Khan in a cameo as Mohan Bhargav⁵
Runtime	167 minutes⁶
Box office	About US$53 million worldwide, which ContentAsia called the biggest Hindi hit of 2022; trackers place worldwide gross at ₹4.188 billion to ₹4.31 billion (₹418.8 to ₹431 crore)³^•⁷^•⁸
Reported budget	₹4.1 billion (₹410 crore; about US$51 million) per reports at release, described as the most expensive Hindi film at the time⁹
National Film Awards	Best Film in AVGC; Best Music Direction (Songs) for Pritam; Best VFX Supervisors (shared)⁴
Sequel	Brahmastra Part Two: Dev, teased in the first film's climax, confirmed in development at CinemaCon 2026¹⁰

Spoilers

Plot and setting

The story is set in modern-day India, where Astras of power have been protected by the Brahmānsh since ancient Vedic times. The most powerful of these weapons, named after the most powerful weapon of the gods, is the Brahmāstra, and a mysterious dark force is trying to wake it². Shiva, a DJ in Mumbai, is on the brink of a romance with Isha when he learns that he has a mysterious connection to the Brahmāstra and an unexplained power within him, the power of Fire¹.

In the film's opening, Shiva witnesses the villain Junoon (Mouni Roy) kill a scientist, Mohan Bhargav (Shah Rukh Khan), and seize a rare artifact that turns out to be one piece of the Brahmāstra, which had been divided into three parts for safekeeping¹¹. Shiva and Isha travel to Varanasi to warn the artist Anish Shetty (Nagarjuna Akkineni), who holds another piece, and are then directed to the ashram of Guru (Amitabh Bachchan), the leader of today's Brahmānsh¹¹^•¹². The film ends with a reveal that sets up the backstory of Dev and Amrita, laying the groundwork for the trilogy's second part¹⁰.

Sequel

The first film's climax revealed the title of the second part, Brahmastra Part Two: Dev, and teased a story centered on Dev and Amrita¹⁰. At CinemaCon 2026 in Las Vegas, producer and DNEG CEO Namit Malhotra confirmed that Part Two is moving ahead and will go into production after Ramayana is completed, with Ranbir Kapoor set to return¹⁰^•¹⁴. Reports indicate Ranbir Kapoor is expected to begin shooting the sequel in April 2027, and that Alia Bhatt will return in a shorter role as the story focuses on Dev and Amrita²⁷.

Development

Mukerji has described the idea's origin as a walk in the Himalayas around 2011, while he was in Shimla writing his previous film, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013); he has said that between 4 pm and 6 pm one day he knew he had found what he called his "Star Wars" idea, a fantasy drawing its energy not from science but from ancient India¹³^•¹². The project took roughly a decade from conception to release, and Mukerji has said he decided early that the story would be told in three parts³^•¹³. He has described the Brahmānsh as a secret-society idea applied to Indian culture, its members ordinary humans who pass their gifts to a new generation, with Bachchan's Guru as the present-day leader¹².

The film was produced by Star Studios, Dharma Productions, Prime Focus, and Starlight Pictures². In southern India it was presented by S.S. Rajamouli, the filmmaker known for his action and fantasy epics². Reports at the time of release put the budget at ₹4.1 billion (₹410 crore; about US$51 million), which would make it one of the most expensive Indian films and the most expensive Hindi film at the time⁹; a later report placed it at ₹3.5 billion to 4 billion (₹350 to 400 crore)¹⁴.

Visual effects

The film's visual effects were created under the DNEG umbrella, the visual effects house owned by Prime Focus, with work led from its London studio alongside teams in India¹⁵. Mukerji said the combined UK and India team numbered over a thousand artists, and that the production spent four times more on visual effects than any previous Hindi film¹². He has said the effects work began on paper at the same time as the story, screenplay, and characters³.

The Astraverse depicts good characters armed with natural forces such as water, fire, and wind, and with creature-based powers³. At the 70th National Film Awards, VFX supervisors Jaykar Arudra, Viral Thakkar, and Neelesh Gore shared the Rajat Kamal and a cash prize of ₹200,000 for the film's visual effects⁴. DNEG's work on the film also received Filmfare, IIFA, and Zee Cine Awards for Best VFX¹⁶.

Release and box office

The film opened in cinemas on 9 September 2022¹. It opened strongly, with a reported worldwide collection of ₹750 million (₹75 crore) on its first day¹⁷. Trackers differ on the final totals: Sacnilk lists ₹4.31 billion (₹431 crore) worldwide gross with ₹2.672 billion (₹267.20 crore) net in India, while Bollywood Hungama lists ₹4.188 billion (₹418.8 crore) worldwide and ₹2.574 billion (₹257.44 crore) net⁷^•⁸. In dollar terms, Box Office Mojo records about US$50.2 million worldwide, of which US$7.8 million came from the United States and Canada across 810 theaters¹⁸. ContentAsia reported the global gross as about US$53 million and called it the biggest Hindi hit of 2022³.

The film began streaming on Disney+ Hotstar on 4 November 2022¹⁹.

Reception

Critical response was mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 49% Tomatometer from 35 reviews and a 68% audience score, with the critics' consensus calling it "ambitious yet uneven"²⁰. Metacritic assigned a metascore of 57, based on 6 critic reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews²¹.

Indian reviews divided along similar lines. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave it 1.5 stars out of 5, writing that despite the non-stop computer graphics and opulent sets, "we never really buy into it completely"²². Bollywood Hungama's review praised the performances, calling Ranbir Kapoor's work marvelous and Alia Bhatt's a grade A performance, while faulting the second half's writing²³. The Times of India gave it 3.5 stars, crediting the visual effects while finding the central love story underdeveloped²⁴. Across reviews, the visual effects drew the most consistent praise, with commentary noting that the VFX was widely appreciated even as the love story between the leads drew criticism¹⁴.

Music and awards

Pritam composed the music, with lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The song "Kesariya" became a hit, and at the 68th Filmfare Awards it won Best Lyrics for Bhattacharya and Best Playback Singer (Male) for Arijit Singh²⁵. At the 70th National Film Awards, honoring films of 2022, the film won Best Film in AVGC, with the Swarna Kamal and ₹300,000 going to the producers and director, and Pritam won Best Music Direction (Songs)⁴^•²⁶.

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026