Wikipedia:Astraverse

The Astraverse is an Indian media franchise centered on a series of fantasy films produced by Star Studios in association with Dharma Productions. The films are based on characters that appear across several periods in the Hindu Mythology.

The first Astraverse film is the upcoming Brahmastra, which in itself is set to be released as a trilogy. The first movie is centered around the Hindu god Shiva and will release theatrically on 9 September 2022.

Concept
Astraverse is a concept linked with ancient Hindu mythology of Gods weilding their respective weapons (the Astras). Building blocks of the Astraverse are the principle elements of nature -- wind, fire and water. In Hinduism, an astra (Sanskrit: अस्त्र; also Romanized as asthra) is a supernatural weapon invoked by mantras to summon the energy of a specific deity. This energy can be channeled into any object, which can then be used as a weapon. These weapons are imbued with spiritual and occult powers.

The Astraverse universe also consists of Astra Rakshak, a secret society of sages that who have been the protectors of the astras and the astron ka devta, the Brahmastra since millenia.

List of Astras
Astras are most common in the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and feature in the battles described in each epic. While they typically take the form of arrows, astras could take the form of any object. For example, Ashwatthama invoked the Brahmashirsha astra into a blade of grass to use as his weapon. The below list presents astras that have made appearance in the Astraverse so far.

Films
Originally, Ayan Mukerji had started pre-production work for the movie series in 2014. Mukerji has often spoken about how it took him almost nine years to create the project. Principal photography lasted for five years from February 2018 to March 2022 with filming locations including Bulgaria, London, New York, Edinburgh, and Varanasi. Production and release of the film was delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brahmāstra – Part One: Shiva ( Hindi pronunciation: [bɾəʱmaːst̪ɾ]) ( transl.  The weapon of Brahma - Part One: Shiva) is the first upcoming Indian Hindi-language fantasy adventure film written and directed by Ayan Mukerji, under the Astraverse universe. It is produced by Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Namit Malhotra, and Mukerji (in his debut production) under the banners Dharma Productions, Prime Focus and Starlight Pictures, in association with Star Studios. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Mouni Roy, and Nagarjuna Akkineni. The film is intended to serve as the first film in a planned trilogy as part the Astraverse cinematic universe.

Release
Brahmāstra – Part One: Shiva is scheduled to release on 9 September 2022. The film will be released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages by Star Studios. It is also planned to be released in the United States and Canada on the same day by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, which is responsible for worldwide distribution.

The film is scheduled for release in standard formats, 3D, and IMAX 3D.