'Brahmastra': Ayan Mukerji hopes to surpass SS Rajamouli's 'RRR's' overseas success

After two dull years owing to the pandemic, Indian cinema flourished in their homeland as well as internationally with films like KGF Chapter 2 and RRR raking in millions at the box office. Apart from their historic run in the theatres, these films also set a benchmark for upcoming ventures in the film industry. 

In view of the same, director Ayan Mukerji recently revealed that he hopes to surpass the overseas figures of SS Rajamouli's directorial RRR with his forthcoming Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt starrer Brahmastra. Interestingly, the celebrated filmmaker will be presenting the Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam language versions of the movie, which will be released on September 9, 2022. 

Ayan Mukerji hopes to surpass RRR success with Brahmastra

In an interview with Variety, Ayan Mukerji revealed that he wishes to cross the benchmark for Indian cinemas' performance in international markets set by SS Rajamouli's latest venture RRR as well as his mega-blockbuster directorial Baahubali and Baahubali 2. RRR collected over $155 million across the world. ''Certainly, with all humility, definitely, I think our ambition is larger than that [“RRR”] number overseas,'' Mukerji said. 

Brahmastra Part One: Shiva, which will be the first part of the trilogy of the Astraverse created by Ayan Mukerji, is bankrolled by Fox Star Studios (owned by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures). Talking about Disney onboard with the project, Mujerji said, ''I hope that, as a key step with Disney coming on board, just our overseas distribution before it even crosses over to the western audience,''

He further added, ''I hope it’s able to reach the subcontinent audience in the western world in a much wider fashion, so that we can actually see that return on box office numbers''.

Earlier, Mukerji had taken to his Instagram to share a picture with SS Rajamouli to extend his gratitude to the veteran filmmaker for inspiring him to take on the ambitious path of creating Brahmastra. ''The spirit of SS Rajamouli has hung over my personal journey over the last few years… because the success of Bahubali truly energised us, and gave us the confidence to take on the mammoth journey of creating Brahmāstra, no matter the hurdles involved. Bahubali gave us a benchmark to work towards… showed us the power of cinema and a truly national movie!'' Ayan Mukerji wrote.

Image: Instagram/@aliaabhatt/ssrajamouli