Prabhas's Fauzi glimpse is not Baahubali, warns producer

Prabhas fans get a Fauzi video on his birthday, October 23, and the producer has already asked them to calm down. “It’s not like Baahubali, so don’t go in with expectations like that,” Mythri Movie Makers’ Ravi Shankar said on Wednesday, when he was put on the spot about the Hanu Raghavapudi film at a teaser launch for one of the company’s smaller productions.

What is coming, he said, is a short glimpse meant to explain the film rather than overwhelm anyone. “It will tell the story outline of Fauzi and reveal Prabhas’ character, giving his fans and the audience an idea of what the film is about and what they can expect from it.” There is a catch for anyone who wants to see it on a big screen: the glimpse will play in theatres alongside 418, Mythri’s horror film releasing this Friday.

Fauzi is set in 1940s India before independence, an alternative history that weaves an invented story through real events, with Prabhas as a soldier. Imanvi plays the female lead, and Naveen Yerneni and Ravi Shankar produce. The makers have kept the film in the news with posters, including an Independence Day look in August, but it has no release date for now.

The same evening, Ravi Shankar also had an update on Mythri’s other big one, Ram Charan’s next with Sukumar, known for now as RC17. The pooja was supposed to happen during Dussehra, he said, but there was no auspicious date. “Sukumar garu is in the UK, and he will return to India in a day or two. The launch will then happen on the 26th or 27th.”

That is a long-awaited start. The pair last worked together on Rangasthalam, Sukumar has since made both Pushpa films, and Ram Charan’s Peddi released four months ago. The leading lady has not been announced, though Sara Arjun and Aneet Padda are both reported to be in contention.