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| - Fact Check: Yes 'Brahmastra' was renamed from 'Dragon', no it had nothing to do with the Pulwama attack
Director Ayan Mukerji's upcoming movie 'Brahmastra' had an earlier title, 'Dragon', but the film's name has nothing to do with the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing incident.
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India Today Fact Check
Yes, the movie was renamed, but the title ‘Brahmastra’ was announced in October 2017. The Pulwama attack took place on February 14, 2019.
Director Ayan Mukerji’s “Brahmastra: Part One” is all set to release on September 9 and an online boycott campaign has already started. Amid the ongoing “Boycott Bollywood” campaign, some claimed that the film was initially named “Dragon”, and that after the February 14, 2019, suicide bombing in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, the producers decided to rename it to “Brahmastra”. They also allegedly renamed the protagonist from Rumi to Shiva. All this, to supposedly attract a wider Hindu audience.
AFWA found that while the movie’s name was indeed changed from “Dragon” to “Brahmastra”, the title was announced back in October 2017, much before the Pulwama attack. The archived versions of such claims can be seen here and here.
Was it ever called ‘Dragon’?
While investigating, we first came across a tweet from the movie’s producer, Karan Johar. On October 11, 2017, Johar announced the film titled “Brahmastra”.
A TRILOGY ...A FANTASY ADVENTURE....A LABOUR OF LOVE.....”BRAHMSTRA” pic.twitter.com/8yQ2Y0yWaD — Karan Johar (@karanjohar) October 11, 2017
At the time, Johar planned to release the film on August 15, 2019. However, it was later postponed several times due to multiple reasons.
Following Johar’s tweet in October 2017, we found a news report that suggested the fantasy film was rumoured to be titled “Dragon” before the official announcement. In fact, the report also noted that on October 8, 2017, Johar had said at an event that the film wouldn't be titled “Dragon”.
Rumi to Shiva
On March 10, 2019, Ayan Mukerji took to Instagram to talk about the film. He shared Kapoor’s photo and said that initially, the protagonist was all set to be called Rumi. He wrote, “There was new inspiration, newer thoughts... Dragon became Brahmstra, we gave Ranbir a haircut, and Rumi became... Shiva.”
Per media reports, during the launch of the motion poster for the movie on December 15, 2021, Mukerji told reporters, “When ‘Dragon’ was the title of the film, that time, we had not thought about it. Shiva, in the film, has the power of fire, so I wrote the name ‘Dragon’ in the script. But the film was always rooted and inspired by Indian culture and history. So when the time came to give the title, Brahmastra was always the right title for the film.”
So, while the film was initially titled “Dragon”, it appears to have been a placeholder. The filmmakers’ decision to name it “Brahmastra” had nothing to do with the terrorist attack in Pulwama.
(Written by Yash Mittal)
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