After Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt are stopped, Ayan Mukerji visits Ujjain temple alone ahead of Brahmastra release

Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor were in Ujjain on Tuesday to visit Mahakaleshwar Temple ahead of the release of their upcoming film Brahmastra on September 9.

However, the actors were stopped by protestors from entering the temple in Madhya Pradesh citing Ranbir’s past comment on beef. Later, on Tuesday, Ayan Mukerji, who had also travelled to Ujjain with Alia and Ranbir, visited the temple alone to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva before the release of Brahmastra.

Ayan took to Instagram to share a photo of himself performing pooja at Mahakaleshwar Temple. He had a red tika on his forehead and a garland of flowers around his neck in the photo. Ayan Mukerji wrote about his ‘beautiful darshan (seeing a diety)’ in the caption.

He wrote, “3 DAYS AWAY (from Brahmastra release)… Feel very happy and energised to have visited Mahakaleshwar Temple today… Got the most beautiful darshan… Wanted to make this visit to close the film-making journey on Brahmastra, and to get all the positive energy and blessings for our release.”

On Tuesday, Ranbir, Alia Bhatt and Ayan had left Mumbai together to offer prayers at Mahakaleshwar Temple. The trio was welcomed by political activists in Ujjain, who did not let the actors attend the aarti (prayer) in the temple. Only Ayan could make it inside the temple and could be seen taking blessings as the protestors reportedly started fighting with police personnel to prevent Alia and Ranbir’s entry inside the temple.

In 2011, Ranbir while promoting his film Rockstar, had said he loved eating beef. “My family is from Peshawar, so a lot of Peshawari food has come with them. I am a mutton, paya, and beef fan. Yeah, I am a big beef fan,” he had said. The old video has resurfaced ahead of the release of Brahmastra.

Ujjain CSP Om Prakash Mishra said the protesters started fighting with police officers. “We were making arrangements as some VIPs were about to visit Mahakaleshwar temple. During which some people started gathering here to protest against them. One of the protestors started fighting with police officers,” he said to news agency ANI.

Brahmastra has been almost a decade in making and five years in production. Apart from Ranbir, the film also stars Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan, Nagarjuna, and Mouni Roy. The fantasy drama is one of the biggest Indian films ever made with a reported budget of over ₹300 crore.