Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra Part One: Shiva is going great guns at the box office and has proved a kind of savior for the Hindi film industry. One of the highlights of the film was Shah Rukh Khan’s cameo even though Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt played the main lead. SRK’s cameo, who wields the Vanarastra, was so well liked by the audience that Ayan has confirmed that he is planning a spinoff on his scientist character Mohan Bhargav. However, eagle-eyed SRK fans could not fail to notice that Shah Rukh’s character’s name was the same as his Swades’ avatar that was directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and is one of his most acclaimed roles, even though the film did a lukewarm business on box office.
In a recent interview, Ayan confirmed that naming SRK’s character as Mohan Bhargav was an intentional tribute to Swades. He also shared that apart from Shah Rukh, he had another reason to pay homage to the cult classic film directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. He said, “In Swades, he (Shah Rukh) plays a NASA scientist called Mohan Bhargava, who decides to come back and work in India. Since I had worked on Swades as an assistant, I thought it would be a nice thing to throw in here."
Our Scientist srk!#ShahRukhKhan #SRK #Brahmastra pic.twitter.com/ljINfCXgTD
— ! (@Srkfanforever3) September 9, 2022
Ayan also expressed his gratitude towards Shah Rukh and said, “We wrote that in our credits, 'Eternally grateful to Mr Shah Rukh Khan'. Sometimes, people come and do something so generous and large hearted. There is no way to ever repay what Shah Rukh Khan has done on Brahmastra. Unanimously, one of the favourite things in Brahmastra has been Shah Rukh sir's sequence."
Ayan started his career as an assistant director with Swades at the age of 19. He later worked as an AD on Karan Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna which also starred Shah Rukh in the lead with Kajol who is Ayan’s cousin. Ayan is also related to Gowariker through the latter’s wife, Sunita Gowariker who is Ayan’s sister. The director has also confirmed that Brahmastra’s sequel Brahmastra Part Two: Dev will release in 2025 and work is underway on the project.
(Source: PTI)
