The movie ‘Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva’ is mired in controversies. The Dharma Productions film has been the butt of a joke, ever since the release of its trailer.
Amidst the public boycott of Bollywood movies, Brahmastra’s lead actress Alia Bhatt told people that they were under no compulsion to watch her movie. To add fuel to the fire, the Hinduphobic tweets of Dharma Productions’ Development Executive also went viral on social media.
It is however not known to many people that the Hindu-centric movie was once called ‘Dragon’ and the main protagonist of the movie was the 13th-century Persian poet Jalal al-Din Muḥammad Rumi.
In an Instagram post in March 2019, the movie’s director Ayan Mukerji informed, “It’s been a long long time since the Brahmāstra journey began… The movie was called Dragon in those days… I had no idea what VFX was but had dreamt up a movie full of it… I had long strange hair…”
He further added, “There have been so many milestone memories and discoveries for me through this ride, that sharing them with whoever is listening on Instagram is as much about connecting the dots for myself… Here is the first really simple concept art we made for the movie… but about something that is at the very heart of it… Fire.”
A few days later, Mukerji shared a still from the movie and informed how the lead actor once played the character of Rumi, prior to his transformation to Shiva.
The Brahmastra director said, “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,” he further added.
In December last year, Ayna Mukerji informed that the erstwhile title of the movie was not well-thought-out. “The title of the film ‘Dragon’ was temporary. I didn’t give much thought to it as Shiva, in the film, has the power of fire, I called it ‘Dragon’ on the script.”
“But the film was always rooted and inspired by Indian culture and history. When the time came to give it a literal title, Brahmastra was always the right title. But Dragon was named as it was relatable to fire, power,” he continued.
Several social media users have expressed their anger after learning that the earlier plot of the movie was based on Persian poet Rumi, who is known to have anti-Hindu antecedents.
Amidst the controversy, film director SS Rahamouli informed that Brahmastra took 9 years to make and is one of its kind film in Indian Cinema.