Audience's love for Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor in Kesariya teaser forced Ayan Mukerji to change Brahmastra marketing plan

Brahmastra director Ayan Mukerji has said that people's warm reaction to Kesariya – the romantic song featuring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt – forced his team to alter the film's promotional strategy.

Filmmaker Ayan Mukerji has revealed that the audience's reaction to the teaser of Kesariya from his upcoming film Brahmastra forced him to modify how they planned to promote the film. Kesariya is a love song featuring the film’s leads Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. The film’s team released a teaser of the song around the time the two actors got married in April. In an Instagram post on Saturday, Ayan said that the reaction to that forced the team to rethink their strategy.

Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in a still from Brahmastra's song Kesariya.

Kesariya’s teaser had been appreciated by fans as it was the first time Ranbir and Alia Bhatt appeared together onscreen in a romantic track. Taking to Instagram on Saturday, Ayan posted a video from the song, featuring fan reactions, and said they initially wanted the first song from the film to be around Shiva (Ranbir’s character). He wrote, “To be honest, I always imagined that we would launch a song which was just about SHIVA, as the first song of Brahmāstra. But there was so much warmth for the Kesariya Teaser, that we decided we had to put it out first (or, everyone would kill us)! And now, I can’t imagine it being any other way… because Kesariya is about Shiva and Isha… and their love, which, is the core of Brahmāstra…!”

The song will release on Sunday, Ayan also added, and wrote about how the film’s composer Pritam conceptualised it. “Our Music Journey really takes off tomorrow… with the launch of Kesariya! Pritam / Dada - was one of the first collaborators to take on the Brahmāstra journey, and we have spent years - of sleepless nights, making songs, rejecting songs, stressing on timelines, cups of tea, thinking discussing working creating - on Brahmāstra! I think - that relationship is the highest level of creative collaboration I have on this movie, and his work more than anyone’s, gives soul to this vision,” he wrote in his long caption.

Brahmastra is a fantasy-fiction film, billed as the first part of a trilogy. The film also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna, and Mouni Roy. Reports say it also includes a cameo by Shah Rukh Khan. Brahmastra is set to release in theatres on September 9.