Ayan Mukerji addresses Brahmastra fan theories; shares why he changed the film’s original title

In a recent interaction, filmmaker Ayan Mukerji addressed a few fan theories about his fantasy drama Brahmastra. He also opened up about changing the film’s title from Dragon to Brahmastra, and the arc of Alia Bhatt’s character Isha.
Mukerji said he was not able to share enough about Brahmastra in part one of his trilogy. He shared that he was not able to showcase “what is its creative possibility and even what is its destructive potential.” The filmmaker explained, “Shiva (played Ranbir Kapoor) and his connection to the Brahmastra and how he manages to calm it down, is a continuing track. As we get into Dev’s story and part two’s story, we will bring a lot more focus onto what exactly happened to Brahmastra and what is going to happen next to it. We will open with a little prologue.” Until now, the film only shows that Brahmastra explodes, and some sages manage to calm it down.

Ayan Mukerji also feels he was not able to ‘articulate’ Alia Bhatt’s character as he wanted to in Brahmastra Part One. “Shiva’s character is not open to this world of the astras, and he wants to live a normal life. But Alia’s character is fascinated and has a sense of adventure. Maybe we could not articulate it in the film, but that is what was there in my mind,” he revealed. Going forward, the filmmaker plans to build on Alia’s character Isha.

Brahmastra was initially titled Dragon. Mukerji explained he named the film Dragon because “I was writing about modern characters. My concept was that this guy has a pull of fire in him which is why I wrote the name Dragon on the script.” However, as he dug deeper into the story, he understood that his “inspiration was shifting from Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings towards Indian hory and culture.”

The filmmaker further said, “I felt that (Indian culture) is actually deeper in me and this will make this project unique and connectable to our country. Also, my connection with Shiv Bhagwaan grew stronger through the making of the film as I understood the beauty and depth in what he stands for. As I was peeling each layer, I understood I need to dig deeper into the well of Indian spirituality. So, early on I realised Dragon is a superficial title. It lacks depth which I thought was there in Brahmastra, so I changed it.”
Brahmastra, starring Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor, has been performing well at the box office. Ayan Mukerji has already confirmed the second part of the movie.