Brahmastra BTS: Ayan Mukerji decodes how he shot the film’s epic climax with Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt. Watch

Before there was light, there were just large blue screens. Filmmaker Ayan Mukerji, whose latest directorial Brahmastra: Part One– Shiva has emerged as one of the biggest Bollywood hits of the year, has spilled beans on how he shot the VFX-heavy project’s climax.
In the film’s climatic battle sequence, actors Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Amitabh Bachchan among others are seen putting all their might to stop the evil forces from joining all the three pieces of Brahmastra, which would create a light that could destroy the world–and awaken Dev, the film’s antagon.
Ranbir Kapoor from Brahmastra. (Screengrab)
In a new behind-the-scenes video shared Disney+ Hotstar, where Brahmastra is currently streaming, Mukerji revealed how the crew filmed the climax at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Bulgaria. Ranbir Kapoor, who plays Shiva in the film, called Brahmastra’s climax as its “high point”. “I don’t think I’ve ever done this kind of prep before,” the actor said in the video.
Mukerji said the film’s climax was their “most challenging sequence” to shoot. “It is a 20-minute sequence with action, visual effects, and emotion. There’s so much going on that it’s like a movie in itself,” the filmmaker added.

Mukerji said the best way to film the high-on-spectacle sequence was to do it indoors, after a rigorous training with the actors. “We’re shooting it against a blue backdrop and it was just blue, everywhere.
“Because the kind of lighting that we needed to create and the kind of stunts that we needed to pull off would be much better served on an interior stage. It made sense to bring all the different teams together and shoot this in a place like Bulgaria,” Mukerji added.
Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in the Brahmastra’s climax sequence. (Photo: Screengrab)
The team shot the film’s climax in Bulgaria. (Photo: Screengrab)
Mouni Roy from Brahmastra. (Photo: Screengrab)
Alia Bhatt said the action-adventure fantasy film was the first time she began a project diving head-first into the climax. “It’s the first time I am starting a film with the climax, it’s the first time I’m doing a film like this at all!” she said in the video.
Brahmastra Part One: Shiva, which had been in the making for over 10 years, released theatrically in September to a bumper response, clocking in more than Rs 365 crore globally.

Though the film was trolled for its poor dialogues–written Hussain Dalal–Brahmastra earned praise for its VFX sequences, which many felt were the best to come out of Bollywood.
Produced Dharma Productions & Star Studios, the film also featured Mouni Roy, Nagarjuna Akkineni and superstar Shah Rukh Khan in a special appearance.