‘Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva’ Ending, Explained: How Did Shiva Stop Dev From Destroying Everything?

The hype “Brahmastra” had created soon after its announcement was unprecedented; many Bollywood movies failed to put up such a buzz. A lot of speculation revolved around the casting. Many people speculated on a cameo appearance by Shah Rukh Khan, and some were even led to believe Ranveer Singh may have a significant role in the film. Ayan Mukerji has spent more than five years of his filmmaking career perfecting this movie with a monstrous budget. Even Bollywood had an unshakeable trust in the director, who had left a lasting impact on the audience through his rom-com films. Well, Bollywood doesn’t have a good past record in handling big budget films, as we have already witnessed the failure of big titles like “Thugs of Hindostan” “Ra-One” etc, but here we are again with “Brahmastra: Part One: Shiva.” The film has made an effort to be unique, but it fails to hit in the right direction. It has sure lured a lot of the fans, but it fails on the script and that makes the film a cinematic disaster. But let’s not jump to a conclusion as of now. It might not be an extraordinary film, but it does pave a way for a brighter future for the Hindi film industry. So, let’s find out what happens in this gigantic bannered production.

Spoilers Ahead


‘Brahmastra: Part One: Shiva’ What Happens In This Movie?

The film starts with a narration by Amitabh Bachchan, who informs the audience about the history of Brahmastra and how it had first appeared on Earth. In the Himalayas, numerous saints gathered and prayed to collect various kinds of “Astras” (weapons). Among them, there was one most powerful ‘Astra,’ called ‘Brahmastra.’ However, the saints did not want it because it was attempting to bring disaster to the face of the Earth, which is why the saints gathered all their strength to fight against it. They somehow managed to preserve it somewhere in the Himalayas so that no one would ever get to know about it. Then we see a wealthy scientist named Mohan Bhargava (Shah Rukh Khan). Many can argue that it is the same guy from “Swadesh,” but we can assure you that he is not. Raaftar and Junoon attack him as he has got a part of the most potent weapon in the universe, “Brahmastra.” They capture and torture him, and Junoon (Mouni Roy) uses her powers to compel Mohan to reveal to them the names of the two people who possess the missing parts of the greatest weapon. Mohan showed her a glimpse of Anish (Nagarjuna Akkineni), who was about to visit Varanasi. In between this mess, Shiva (Ranbir Kapoor) somehow got a glimpse of everything happening with Mohan. Mohan was the carrier of Vanarastra, and later, to protect the secrets of the ‘Ashram’ (where the protectors of Bramhastra meet and train), he committed suicide.

Next, we find Shiva falling in love with Isha (Alia Bhatt), and later, he finally reveals to her that he had already seen the death of Mohan and Anish in his dreams. Hence, to protect Anish from Junoon, Shiva arrives in Varanasi along with Isha. There they told Anish about the Brahmastra, and Anish was surprised at how Shiva knew all about this. Junoon, along with Zor and Raaftar, attacks them, but somehow they manage to escape. Anish hands over the other part of “Brahmastra” to Isha and tells Shiva to go straight to the Ashram. Then we see a thrilling fight sequence between Anish and Junoon. Anish pushes them from the mountain valley with his Nandi-Astra’s help. However, he fails to kill them. So, Zor and Raaftar both carry the Vanar-Astra and Nandi-Astra with them. Shiva successfully manages to visit the Ashram, and there he meets Guru Arvind.

Then, Guru Arvind informs him that the war he thought he was being dragged into is actually the war his father, Dev, had started. Soon, we learn more about Shiva’s background. He is the son of Amrita and Dev. While Dev was one of the strongest warriors among men, Amrita rigorously followed her duties. Dev was driven by his desire to achieve the possession of Brahmastra. When he was finally able to achieve his goal, it was Amrita who stopped him from destroying the world. On a distant island, they fought, and it was presumed that they both died. But the arrival of Shiva had removed that doubt, as when Amrita was fighting against Dev, she was pregnant with Shiva. So, if she had died in that fight, Shiva could not have been born. Later, Shiva says his mother died from a fire in their apartment when he was a child. He also said that Dev must be alive in mortal form or another, which was why Junoon and her team are looking for the missing parts of the Brahmastra. Soon, Junoon finds out about the Ashram, and there she captures everyone. After another fight sequence, we see that Junoon finally gathers all the pieces of the Bramhastra and summons Dev. The land shakes when Dev is about to arrive, and it feels like everything is about to collapse. Shiva goes to save Isha and grabs hold of the Bramhastra with the help of his Agni-Astra. The doom was finally avoided, and everyone was safe. In the end, we see that Shiva had only managed to avoid the obvious for the time being, as Dev was released from his gigantic stone statue.


‘Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva’ Ending Explained: Who Kept The Final Part Of The “Brahmastra”?

When Shiva was introduced adequately to the Brahmastra, Guru Arvind said that in the fight between Dev and Amrita, the Brahmastra was broken into three pieces. Amrita had sent away the two parts in a boat that the protectors, “Brahmangsh,” collected. The island was destroyed, and with it, they thought that the last part of the great weapon was lost forever. The Brahmangsh kept believing that Dev and Amrita had died in that huge fight, and the third part was forever lost to them. But, when Shiva arrived at the Ashram of the Brahmangsh and showed the signs of Dev’s powers, Guru Arvind was surprised. He could not believe that some ordinary guy could possess the strengths of a great warrior like Dev. Then, he realized that Shiva was not an ordinary person, and he understood that his parents were Amrita and Dev. They were in love long before the fight against good and evil began. Soon, Dev wished to have Brahmastra and rule all other astras worldwide, even after taking an oath to prevent that from happening. Amrita, too, swore to protect Brahmastra from reaching anyone’s hands. Amrita had the power of Jal-Astra, and Dev had the power of Agni-Astra. When Dev conquered Brahmastra with the help of Agni-Astra, Amrita fought against him with Jal-Astra. The fight took place on a distant island.

When the fight happened, Amrita was already pregnant with Dev’s child. Guru Arvind later disclosed that since Shiva was alive, Amrita must have been alive after the great war. So, the assumption is that if Amrita was alive, the final broken part of the Brahmastra must have been with her. She kept it hidden in a ‘Shankh’ that had been placed beside Shiva since childhood. But, when the fire broke out, Shiva was unharmed, and Amrita died in it. The reason behind the fire outbreak was that maybe it was the first time Shiva had shown any sign of the Agni-Astra he possessed. We have seen that he could trigger the fire around him whenever Shiva felt loved. In the later stages, whenever he was with Isha, there was always a massive fire following him. However, in the end, he learned how to control such situations with the help of Guru Arvind.


Why Did Amrita Keep The Last Half Of The Brahmastra To Herself?

To answer this question, we must speculate on what happened to Amrita after the great war between her and Dev. We see that Dev was kept alive in some sort of stone statue. It must have been Amrita who had the chance to kill Dev, but as she loved him so much, she could not allow herself to kill her lover. All she did was send the other two pieces to the Brahmangsh; with the help of the last piece, she buried Dev alive, powerless, and alone in the island’s depths. She carried the last part with her because she could not return to Brahmangsh. Why? Maybe she was too afraid after giving birth to Shiva. She knew that if she returned to Bramhangsh, she would have to protect Brahmastra again. Instead, she chose a more uncomplicated life, keeping the last piece close to her. This way, she could protect both Shiva and the piece of the Brahmastra. But she never thought that fire could take her life away. Thus, she left the final part to Shiva, making him one of the protectors of the most potent weapon in the world.


How Did Shiva Stop Dev From Destroying The World And Possessing The Brahmastra?

When Junoon gathered all three pieces and summoned Dev, the world was once again threatened. There was a massive earthquake. Everyone thought it was the doom they had always tried to avoid. Guru Arvind asked Shiva to leave with him, leaving Isha behind, or he would die. But Shiva answered that if he left Isha, he would die anyway. So, the story’s protagonist goes towards doom to save the heroine. Their love was too impeccable to be defeated by demonic power. With great difficulties, Shiva finally reached Isha, and then he said he would protect her as long as possible. Then Shiva turned his back to the Brahmastra and tried to protect Isha from the impossible force of fire. Soon, we see that his Agni-Astra was active and made a hand-like structure to grab hold of the Brahmastra. The hand moved towards the Brahmastra and finally grabbed it. Thus, Dev was defeated, and restoration began.

Later, we hear Guru Arvind saying that Shiva’s decision to sacrifice himself to protect Isha defeated Dev. Shiva’s sacrifice was purely driven by love, while Dev’s was only inspired by greed for power. Love beats anything else anyway. Shiva’s love for Isha was so pure and honest that even the almighty Dev could not defeat his intentions. Shiva’s unmoved and unparalleled intention shook Dev’s grounds, and thus he could not cause much harm. Earlier, we saw that Shiva could not trigger any fire all by himself without the help of a little flame. Arvind told him that to do that he needed to be more powerful and focused. When he was trying to save Isha, he was most focused. This generated the most potent Agni-Astra anyone ever possessed. Even Dev, the earlier possessor of Agni-Astra, could not generate such force to fight against Brahmastra. Dev could only capture Brahmastra, but Shiva fought against the almighty weapon’s power. The love Shiva wanted to protect gave him the strength to generate such an enormous amount of energy that helped him defeat Dev, his father.


Final Words: The Rise of Dev

In the final scene, we see Dev returning to his mortal form. The ending credits said, “Brahmastra: Part Two – Dev.” So, we can assume that it would be based on the origin of Dev and, of course, Amrita, and the climax would be the fight on the distant island. Well, Ranveer Singh fighting Deepika Padukone will be a treat for the fans. But anyway, Ayan Mukerji almost had everything planned for an unforgettable journey through the Astraverse. The play would keep haunting the audience for a more extended period of time. The love story between Ranbir and Alia took far too long, yet there was no particular chemistry between them. Pritam’s music is unbearably loud and deafening. The makers dealt exceptionally well with the color palette, and the VFX are outstanding. There is no doubt that the VFX has shown the team’s effort in making such a film. However, it was the dialogue that made the audience cringe all the time. The dialogues were so poorly written that, at times, it felt like you were watching a nineteenth-century cringe drama.

So, “Brahmastra” had brilliant visuals, a vastly original story, dull dialogues, and a bunch of cringe-worthy proposals that made it a great one-time watch. Ayan Mukerji had every opportunity to make a great movie, yet he failed. “Brahmastra: Part One” surely managed to dodge some bullets, but it took many already. It will be wonderful to see Bollywood go bankrupt sooner than we have imagined. But the best thing is that Bollywood finally came up with an original script with out-of-the-box visuals. Maybe there is still hope, no?


“Brahmastra” is a 2022 action thriller film currently running in theaters.

Shovan Roy
Shovan Roy
Shovan Roy is a creative content writer. Formerly he used to write film reviews on an international film festival website named Beyond the Curve International Film Festival. He also interviewed global directors. He also interviewed one of the characters from the show 'Trailer Park Boys', Mr. Bernard Robichaud, platformed in Netflix. Shovan tends to write through the third person narrative and he loves to do psychoanalysis. He can't say that he has mastered it but that is some sort of hobby of his. Film is a platform where he loves to spend most of his time learning.


 

 

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