After several changes, the duo’s first film together gets a final release date; last shoot kicks off early next month
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 3, 2020)

On Sunday, Amitabh Bachchan took to Twitter to announce the new release date of Ayan Mukerji’s fantasy-action-adventure, Brahmastra, fronted by Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. “T 3429 BRAHMSTRA… coming to cinemas on 4/12/20 & Ayan is NOT allowed to change it now (sic),” the veteran actor exclaimed, referring to several changes in the date since it went on the floors. Mirror has now learnt that the Karan Johar production, the first part of a trilogy, will wrap up with a 20-day schedule, which kicks off early next month in Mumbai.

“The team will shoot some romantic scenes with RK and Alia and complete some patchwork with the rest of the cast,” revealed a source. The film had flagged off in February 2018 in Bulgaria, followed by marathon schedules in London, New York, Scotland, Varanasi and, Manali, where the climax was canned. The film features Ranbir as Shiva, who emits fire from his hand, with Alia as his love interest, Isha.

“It’s an ambitious film for Ayan as the visual effects are not limited to the action sequences. Even the real shooting locations will be enhanced with VFX, which is why the film has taken longer than expected,” the source informed. The film has been in the making for around 170 days. By the time it wraps up, the cast would have worked for almost 200 days. “It’s one of the longest shoot for a film in the last 20 years, along with Baahubali and Padmaavat.”

A London-based team is working on the visual effects. Ayan will move to the editing, background score and dubbing once he wraps up the shoot. “The new date was announced keeping in mind the time required for the finishing touches. There will be no delay in the release now,” the source added.

Brahmastra also features Nagarjuna and Dimple Kapadia in pivotal roles and a cameo by Shah Rukh Khan, who shot for his turn in November last year.