Brahmastra Part 2 : Dev [Outline Structural Breakdown]
This is a proposed outline for Part 2 of the Brahmastra trilogy. It is original content, written by me. I am not affiliated in any way with the production, or the makers of the Astraverse/Brahmastra movies and have not received any advance information about the upcoming movies. My proposed outlines for Parts 2 and 3 are my predictions for where the story could go after Part 1. The actual movies may differ greatly from what I have proposed here.
All images in this post are the copyright of Dharma Productions.
Published on Oct 1, 2022
Quick recap of Part 1: Shiva
Part 1 is Shiva’s origin story, the story of how he learns about the world of the Astras and the Brahmansh, about his own power as an AgniAstra and his potential destiny with the Brahmastra. There’s a lot of world building and setup to be done to bring Shiva (and the audience) up to speed in the first part and prepare him for the ultimate challenge in Parts 2 and 3. As a refresher, here’s the story outline for Part 1.
Now that Part 1 is out, let’s imagine what Part 2 and 3 could look like.
Part 1 could showcase a simple good v/s evil theme with a black-and-white antagonist like Junoon, because Part 1 was about world building and introducing the characters. Parts 2 and 3 need to have a central thematic principle that drives the conflict in order to keep audiences engaged.
The plot of Part 2 will build a conflict based on the thematic principle I introduced in this post, and Part 3 will resolve the thematic conflict.
Brahmastra Part 2 : Dev
Part 2 follows 2 storylines in parallel, cutting from one to the other through Act 1 and 2. Act 3 will be set completely in the present day storyline.
One is the Dev/Amrita storyline from 30 years ago — this follows Chris Vogler’s Hero’s Journey structure with a negative corruption arc as Dev descends into insanity following his obsession.
The second is the present day storyline with Shiva, Isha and a reborn Dev who seeks to claim the Brahmastra again — this is not a Hero’s Journey, so we’ll use K.M.Weiland’s story structure to drive this storyline.
Dev & Amrita storyline — 30 years ago
ORDINARY WORLD : We meet DEV as a young urchin on the streets, living by his wits. He’s a thief, but he goes out of his way to provide for others in the street who are weaker than him. Alongside his desire to help others, there are also hints that he expects complete loyalty and obedience from them in return.
One day, he steals a pen-like item from a stranger. When inspecting the item, it glows and lets loose with a blast of energy. Dev is shocked, and has to run for his life when the stranger pursues him to get the item back. After an exciting parkour-like chase sequence, the stranger corners the urchin, who thinks his time has come.
CALL TO ADVENTURE : Instead, the stranger extends a hand and asks him to join him if he wants to learn about the power of the strange glowing item.
REFUSAL OF THE CALL : Dev refuses at first. He’s street smart, and he has a gang to take care of. The stranger says he can show Dev a world he never knew existed, and learn how to use powers that could change the world. Intrigued, Dev agrees to join the BRAHMANSH.
The stranger introduces himself. This is GURU, a Brahmansh member and the wielder of the Prabhastra.
CROSSING THE FIRST THRESHOLD : Dev arrives at the Brahmansh ashram and is fascinated with all the other kids training with their Astras. It’s a community, a family he never had and he joins them enthusiastically. Dev meets the Brahmansh elders, who all like the young man and appreciate his charisma and energy.
TESTS, ALLIES, ENEMIES : As Dev trains, he participates in competitions during the training. With his natural talent and street smarts, Dev can beat most of the other kids. Until he runs up against her. AMRITA. She’s beautiful, athletic and otherworldly. Her Astra is the Jalastra, and she uses it with balletic grace. Dev’s way out of his league, but he’s also stupid enough to still think he can beat her. She wipes the floor with him, and he’s smitten.
A few years later, Dev is a warrior studying with the Brahmansh and training to use various Astras. He’s the strongest of all the trainees except for Amrita, his primary Astra being the Agniastra. He’s still in love with Amrita, who likes him, but senses there’s more to him than this talented, headstrong charmer. Dev and Guru are also best friends, with Guru providing the calming influence to Dev’s passionate nature. Together, they are the future of the Brahmansh and are anointed the next generation of leaders, after the elders’ time is done.
One day, Dev sees something bad happen to someone he cares about. He wants to use his Astra to help, but the elders tell him not to. Humanity has grown to become vast, unchecked, and chaotic, and they cannot possibly fix all of humanity’s problems. Besides, if the Brahmansh reveal the existence of the Astras, it could trigger a war with forces who want to use the Astras for grow their own power, and the Astras, especially the Brahmastra in the wrong hands would be a disaster for the world.
Dev is not convinced. His perspective changes as he looks around and sees what the Brahmansh has become — a reclusive sect hiding in the mountains, hoarding their sacred gifts behind the outward goal of protecting the Astras. What was the point of all the training, all the mastery, if he can not use the knowledge and the power of the Astras to make the world a better place? He talks to Amrita and his best friend, Guru. Amrita supports Dev, but Guru sides with the Brahmansh elders. He feels the Astras are gifts from the divine to be safeguarded, and the Brahmansh are their protectors.
Dev is upset at this. He expected his best friend to be loyal to him, but Amrita convinces him they should go ahead with his plan and eventually, the Brahmansh would see it their way.
Against Brahmansh directives, Dev and Amrita set about using their Astras to help people. They start small — stopping robberies, saving people from fires, floods and other natural disasters, standing up for the weak against extortion and bullies. They hide their faces, so they become famous as local superheroes. People leave messages asking for help in temples, and Dev and Amrita respond to each of them. The two of them work well together, their movements, their combat tactics synced as one. Dev and Amrita feel their relationship deepening. Amrita sees the fire in Dev’s eyes to do everything he can to help people in need, and she falls in love with him. Guru is the only one within the Brahmansh who knows what Dev and Amrita are up to.
Eventually, the Brahmansh elders find out about Dev and Amrita’s activities. They are furious that Dev and Amrita went behind their backs and risked exposing the Astras and the Brahmansh. They ask the two of them to stop their activities immediately, but Dev and Amrita refuse and plead their case. Dev pleads with Guru to side with him, thinking that the three of them could sway the elders, but Guru stays silent and backs the elders. Dev feels betrayed.
For their actions, the elders banish Dev and Amrita from the Brahmansh and anoint Guru as the next leader of the Brahmansh. Dev and Amrita leave the Brahmansh and continue to help people, but their fame is growing and the requests for their help are coming in fast and furious. Dev is starting to feel the pressure of it, and Amrita can sense the anger in him growing. Anger at the Brahmansh for not helping them when they could, anger at Guru for not being loyal to him, anger at his own helplessness for not being able to help everyone. His control issues are starting to show, and Amrita fears for what it will do to him.
TURNING POINT : Dev starts to lose it. During an attempt to rescue a kidnapped girl, Dev discovers a child trafficking ring. He sees the appalling conditions these children are kept in, and the terror on their faces, and he snaps and outright burns the perpetrators alive with his AgnyAstra. Amrita thinks this is a step too far — they cannot be judge, jury and executioners and they cannot take the law into their own hands. But Dev has crossed a line, and with righteous fury, he argues he’s solving problems, unlike the Brahmansh.
As the demands for their help grow, Dev realizes they need more capabilities, more Astras. He starts to use multiple Astras together to be more effective, but there are unintended consequences. There’s collateral damage and innocents get hurt. Amrita is still with Dev, but the differences between them escalate once she sees how his mania is changing him. She tries to warn him; people are becoming too dependent on him to solve all their problems, and his need to control everything is driving him insane.
Then it happens. A rescue of people at the scene of a riot goes wrong… catastrophically. Dev tries to calm the rioters down, but passions are high. There are innocents caught in the crossfire, and Dev sees a couple of kids, like the kids he used to protect on the streets, get hurt when a Molotov cocktail thrown by one of the rowdy protesters ignites near them. People are running everywhere and Dev is unable to control them. Finally, he snaps. He blasts people left and right with the AgnyAstra, sparking off a major panic and a stampede. Many people are killed and many more are hurt in the melee. Public opinion quickly turns against “the masked saviors’’ and people start denouncing them. Dev once again feels betrayed by what he thinks is the disloyalty of the people he has done so much for.
APPROACH TO THE INNERMOST CAVE : In the aftermath of the riot massacre, Amrita finally decides that Dev has gone too far, and she cannot be a part of this any longer. She walks out on him, and Dev is too proud to admit he was wrong. He doubles down on his belief that the only reason things went wrong was that he was not powerful enough. The only way to bring the world into balance is to acquire enough power to control everything.
Dev knows that the only way to do this is to get control of the Brahmastra and use it to remake the world. He will have to destroy the chaos, the anarchy and the disloyal and bring in an era of peace and harmony under his watchful and benevolent eye. The people will realize that he has the power of a god and will be loyal to him.
ORDEAL : Dev launches an all out assault on the Brahmansh ashram. He’s combat trained and armed with multiple Astras, and this time, he’s not holding back or trying to save lives. This is an epic battle scene with Astras flying back and forth, and the Brahmansh trying to outflank Dev, but he’s a force of nature, driven by single minded purpose — to acquire the Brahmastra and make the world fall at his feet. He fights like a man possessed and against all odds, manages to get his hands on the ultimate weapon.
REWARD/CONSEQUENCE : Many of the Brahmansh are killed during the battle. Guru is wounded but alive. He manages to send a message out to the only one who can stop Dev now, or so Guru hopes.
THE ROAD BACK : Dev leaves with the Brahmastra to an island off the coast, where he plans to activate the weapon and use it to recreate the world.
RESURRECTION : Amrita arrives at the island. She pleads with Dev to reconsider, but at this point, he’s too far gone to be swayed. She realizes she’s going to have to fight him and possibly kill him to save the world.
Another fight scene, but unlike the free for all assault at the Brahmansh, this is a quieter, more intimate battle. Like a game of chess with an opponent who knows their every move, the two lovers face off in a ballet of choreographed action. Each desperate to not hurt the other, but equally desperate for the cause they have committed to. But unlike their combat from their younger days, Amrita sees an insanity in Dev, an anger lashing out in his every move. His fury breaks her down and she’s temporarily out of the fight. Dev takes her Jalastra away from her, turns to the Brahmastra and starts to activate it. Amrita digs down deep and centers herself, and manages to land a blow that breaks the Brahmastra into three pieces just when Dev is in the middle of activating it. The effect is catastrophic, the energy surge from the break swallows Dev up and moves his spirit to a different dimension of existence, encased in stone until the three pieces of the Brahmastra are reunited. Amrita doesn’t know this, and believes he’s been killed. She weeps for her lost love, for herself, and for the unborn child inside her. Dev’s child.
RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR : Amrita sends the 2 pieces of the Brahmastra back to Guru for safekeeping and goes into hiding with the 3rd piece, knowing that no one can activate the Brahmastra while she has the third piece.
Shiva & Isha Storyline — Present Day
HOOK : After the events of Part 1, Dev has been released from the stone statue he was trapped in for 30 years. He sets out to find the Brahmansh, and to take back what he thinks is rightfully his.
SETUP : The Brahmansh are rebuilding. They have abandoned the ashram for a new secret location. They mourn Tenzing’s death, and SHIVA learns more from GURUJI & THE DOCTOR (Dimple Kapadia’s character) about the workings of the Brahmansh —they need to get stronger, train harder, and set up defenses against another attack, were it to come.
ISHA has picked up the Pavanastra that Tenzing dropped when he was killed and has started to train with it. She’s talented, and there are sequences of Shiva and Isha training together, exploring the scope of their abilities. However, Shiva is not training as hard as he should. He thinks he’s powerful enough, now that he’s calmed the Brahmastra. Isha tries to push him, but he’s getting complacent.
INCITING INCIDENT : Dev engineers public destruction using his Astras. This has two purposes — One, the raw display of power brings followers to his side. These are washed out Brahmansh trainees — malcontents and power hungry people. Dev needs an army to get to the Brahmastra. He knows not to take on the Brahmansh single-handedly this time. Two, enough destruction will draw out the Brahmansh, who are committed to guarding the secret of the Astras and will want to stop him from exposing the existence of the Astras from the larger world.
KEY EVENT : The Brahmansh become aware of a power out there, causing mass destruction. They can’t really tell who it is, but they can tell Astras are being used. Shiva, Isha and Guruji decide to investigate.
REACTION : Shiva, Isha and Guruji find evidence of Astra usage at the site of the destruction, but they cannot tell who caused it and what they wanted. They start tracking reports and sightings online to try and predict where the enemy will strike next.
FIRST PINCH POINT : Shiva, Isha and Guruji arrive at the scene of an active Astra related destruction in progress. They see a couple of men wantonly firing Astras at people, destroying cars, damaging buildings. The three attack the bad guys, countering their attacks while trying to protect people in the crossfire. Shiva and Isha fight as one, coordinating their attacks. Through the fight, Guruji gets a sense of a shadowy presence watching their every move, though he doesn’t see anyone. They manage to subdue the bad guys, but before they can question them, the bad guys are killed by Astra shots from afar. The three look all around, but cannot locate the sniper.
REALIZATION : Guruji realizes there is something bigger going on. They are being watched, and they can’t go back to the Brahmansh HQ. He decides to protect Shiva & Isha and draw the mysterious attacker towards him, so he sends them off on a mission under a false pretext and heads off in the opposite direction.
TURNING POINT : Guruji drives up into the mountains, away from inhabited areas to minimize human casualties. He parks in an open clearing, gets out of the car and waits. After a few minutes, Dev steps out into the clearing. He has a mask covering his face, so Guruji doesn’t recognize him. Guruji asks him what he wants, and why he’s doing all this. Dev replies that he just wants the Brahmastra, and he wants the Brahmansh to step out of his way. Guruji tells him he’ll never get either of his wishes. The Brahmansh has a new warrior now, one who calmed the Brahmastra down single-handedly. Guruji draws his Prabhastra and the fight begins. As they fight, Guruji recognizes familiar fight patterns — he has fought this opponent before. He tracks moves and counter moves and flashes back to his younger days, sparring with… Dev! Guruji’s eyes widen with shock at the realization. He hesitates for a second, and Dev takes advantage of the opportunity to land a lethal blow!
Meanwhile, Shiva is struck by one of his visions. He sees Guruji, talking to a man in black, with a mask. Guruji tells the man about the new Brahmansh warrior, and Shiva realizes he’s talking about Shiva. Through the vision, Guruji looks straight at Shiva. There’s a message in his eyes… a sense of the inevitable. Guruji’s eyes are calm, and Shiva feels a foreboding growing within him. Then he sees the fight begin…
As Guruji lies wounded, Dev unmasks himself. He kneels next to Guru and talks to him as they did 30 years ago, when they were friends. All he wanted was for the world to stop fighting and hurting each other. He wanted to help, and the Brahmansh stood in his way. Guru stood in his way. The love of his life, Amrita, stood in his way. But now, he has a second chance. A second chance to fulfill the purpose of the Brahmansh, the one they abandoned. He will not make the same mistakes as before. This time, he won’t let his heart get in the way of what needs to be done. Dev says he’s going to take the Brahmastra over the body of Guruji’s “new warrior”.
Guru tells Dev that the Brahmansh were created to protect the Astras… from people like him. There’s a flash of anger in Dev’s eyes, but he recognizes the gravity of the moment and restrains himself. Guruji closes his eyes and focuses on his shared vision with Shiva. Shiva is devastated, seeing his mentor die before his eyes. Guruji tells Shiva that Shiva has the strength within him to be the warrior the Brahmansh needs. The Brahmastra needs Shiva now. “Look to Isha — she’s your north star”.
With those words, Guruji breathes his last. Dev sits with his old friend for a while out of respect, then picks up the Prabhastra and walks away.
3RD PLOT POINT : Shiva now knows who’s behind the attacks, and he reels with the information. Dev is back! His father is back! And he’s killed Guruji! Shiva is barely functional, and Isha has to struggle to get him back on his feet. They head back to the Brahmansh HQ. Unbeknownst to them, they are being followed by one of Dev’s men.
RECOVERY : Back at the Brahmansh HQ, Shiva gets support from Isha and the Doctor, who’s now the official leader of the Brahmansh. They mourn Guruji’s passing, and the Doctor announces to the Brahmansh members present that Dev is back and will be coming soon for the Brahmastra. She knows that the only reason Dev let Shiva and Isha go is to follow them back here. They need to prepare for an attack. The Brahmansh are shocked and some of them panic, remembering the last time Dev attacked them 30 years ago. The Doctor rallies them, saying that protecting the Astras is their sacred duty. They will give their lives to keep the Brahmastra safe. They prepare for Dev’s attack.
CLIMAX BEGINS : Dev arrives at the Brahmansh location with his ragtag army of goons. He sends his goons in first and observes. He wants to see the new warrior that Guruji thought so highly of. The Doctor tells Shiva to stay back and protect the Brahmastra. He’s the last line of defense. Shiva protests, but she tells him that he’s a soldier now, and these are his orders. What would Guruji want of him?
With that, Isha leads the new members of the Brahmansh into battle. She’s inexperienced but fierce, and there are low points and high points in the battle as some of Dev’s goons overpower other Brahmansh, but Isha and her team, with strategic guidance from the Doctor, are able to out-maneuver them. Finally, Dev decides to step in. He defeats a few of the elderly Brahmansh with ease and fires the Net Astra at Isha, completely trapping her. He steps closer to her, Prabhastra drawn.
CONFRONTATION : Dev has Isha hostage and at his mercy. This draws Shiva out, as Dev knew it would. Dev has no idea Shiva is his son, and Shiva doesn’t tell him. Dev wants the Brahmastra, and Shiva tells him he’ll have to go through him to get it. Dev lets Isha go, and the duel begins. Shiva is strong, but Dev has more battle experience, brute force, and multiple Astras on his side. Shiva holds his own and manages to land a few blows, causing Dev to drop the Prabhastra. But Shiva is outmatched, and losing fast. Isha steps in to help, but Dev is on a roll now. He’s in his element, lashing out like a brutal force of nature. Isha is knocked down, wounded but not seriously. She’s out of the fight. The other members of the Brahmansh watch helplessly; a few of them rush to help, but they don’t last long and Dev is back on Shiva.
CLIMACTIC MOMENT : A woman picks up the fallen Prabhastra. We only see her hand as she picks it up, and it hums and activates at her touch. Dev has drawn blood now, he knows Shiva has nothing left. His savagery has gotten the better of him; he will prove his superiority against Guru’s chosen warrior, and take the Brahmastra from his lifeless hands. Shiva’s bleeding and unconscious, and Dev is ready now, to strike the final blow. He slashes down… and is blocked! By the Prabhastra. Momentarily stunned, Dev looks up. Who could have the power to block his killing blow?
AMRITA STANDS ABOVE HER FALLEN SON, the Prabhastra in her hand, her eyes flashing with the fury of a thousand suns. Dev can’t believe his eyes! He thought she had died on the island all those years ago. He looks into her eyes, the way she’s standing over Shiva, and the realization hits him. He steps back, his world spinning. His Astra slips from his fingers.
The Doctor realizes this is their only chance to get away. She activates the Maya Astra over Amrita, Shiva, Isha and the few surviving Brahmansh members, cloaking them. They disappear from view, and the Doctor exchanges a look with Amrita while they are cloaked; they need to escape. They manage to carry Shiva and get away in the chopper.
RESOLUTION : As they fly away, Amrita looks down at Dev, standing below, looking up at her, sadness and anger in his eyes. She knows he’ll never stop, especially now that knows about his son. And about Shiva’s relationship to the Brahmastra.
END OF PART 2 : DEV
Outline for Part 3 coming soon!
This post is part of a series I am writing about Ayan Mukerji’s Brahmastra trilogy and the “Astraverse”. You can see the rest of the posts in the series in this publication — Writing the Astraverse.
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