Brahmastra: For years, Hindi film lovers have longed for Bollywood to step up and compete with the biggest films in the world. The Hindi film industry operates according to established patterns and it doesn’t seem like it will get rid of them anytime soon. With the popularity of OTT platforms in a short period of time, Indian audiences have unprecedented access to global content, it is time for the Hindi film industry to revive and start telling more meaty stories.
Director Ayan Mukerji is oblivious to all the white noise and events surrounding Bollywood, he seems to be focused on one thing. His Brahma trilogy. Luckily for Brahmastra, it’s always in the news for all the right reasons, whether it’s the VFX, or the scale or concept of the trilogy, the Brahmastra trilogy has audiences waiting in anticipation of its greatness.
Director Ayan Mukerji took inspiration from lucrative fantasy stories like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings, The Avengers, and many similar films, and first came up with the idea in 2011. To his dismay, Indian filmmaking lacks the goods and services to bring this kind of film to the stage and bring it to life. Unlike English, Hindi is not a world language, which prevents Bollywood from spending large sums on projects. After all, filmmaking is a business, and producers definitely evaluate projects before investing in them. Mukerji went on to direct Yeh Jawaani Hain Deewani, a film widely watched by audiences of all ages. Without delay, Mukherjee turned his attention to the Brahma trilogy, a project that was ingrained in his mind and heart.
Standing head-to-head with Hollywood Biggies
Brahmastra’s first screen test took place in 2016, and the concept art took on a realistic form. Director Ayan Mukerji quickly understood that he had no choice but to outsource the project to a highly skilled and crafted visual effects company. Dharma Productions turned to DNEG to design the visual effects for their most ambitious project to date. Winners of seven Academy Awards, Anglo-Indian Visual Effects, Computer Animation and Stereoscopic Transformation Studio liked Dharma’s pitch and agreed to be part of the project. The visual effects company is a major player in the market and has projects such as Black Adam and Shazam before its release. DNEG also features Black Mirror’s Inception, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Interstellar, Blade Runner 2049, Creed, Dune and Metal Head “was awarded a BAFTA award. DNEG was established in 1998 and is headquartered in Fitzrovia,London with additional locations in Vancouver, Mumbai, Los Angeles, Chennai, Montréal, Chandigarh, Bangalore, and Toronto.