Prasanth Varma to Direct 'Jai Hanuman': A New Venture

Prasanth Varma is an Indian film director and screenwriter who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. He is known for directing Away (2018), Zombie Reddy (2021) and Hanu-Man (2024). His first film away won the National Film Award for Best Special Effects and Best Make-up. After the worldwide success of Hanu-Man, Prasanth is thinking of making many more superhero films. Let us tell you what Prasanth said on this subject.

Prasanth Plans More Superhero Films

How did the idea of creating Hanu-Man come to your mind?

I always wanted to make superhero films and I always wanted to make films which were about our God. I love science fiction and fantasy films. So I thought why not make a film in which both of them would be there? I thought of making a film which would be a superhero film but the powers of that superhero come from our gods. Hanuman Ji was the first god that came to my mind because Hanuman Ji is very interesting. Hanuman Ji is very powerful, he is playful. He is very dedicated and humble. There is no such person who does not like Hanuman Ji. And that's why I thought I should make this film.

The visuals of the film are very good, whoever has used VFX has done it very precisely. You also get the credit for this as a director.

I tried and my team is very good. The cinematographer was very good. There are some shots where you will feel that the cinematographer has done a great job but those are CG shots for which credit should be given to the VFX people. There are some shots that people may think are VFX shots but they are real shots. The quality of VFX in the film is so good that people feel that they are real shots. Many people felt that the big idol of Hanuman Ji was real. I want Modi Ji to build a big statue of Hanuman Ji like this.

There are many challenges to be faced in making such a film, I would like to tell you something about it.

The underwater sequence in the film was very challenging because Teja had to act underwater. Holding your breath underwater is very difficult and acting in it is even more difficult. That was a very difficult scene for Teja as an actor. As a director, it was difficult for me to do scenes with natural sun because the sun is not under our control, we can turn it on or off. In many scenes we needed sunshine and in many scenes we needed the weather to be a little cloudy. Whenever we wanted sunshine, the weather was cloudy and whenever we wanted clouds, there was very bright sunshine. This was very difficult. Apart from this, whatever action sequences were there and whatever scenes we shot in the jungle were also very difficult. Because there were snakes and wild animals in the forest, it was scary for us but Hanuman Ji was with us and he protected us.

The film has done very well in America, what would you like to say about it?

It has come in the top 5 among Telugu films in America. The ticket price of our film is also low. A big movie has a ticket price of $30 and our movie was only $12. Despite this, our film is the highest-grossing film in Telugu cinema. This is a matter of great happiness and pride for us. People of India who live abroad take their children to show them who our Hanuman ji is. The children there know superheroes like Spiderman and Superman but after they see Hanu Man, they start asking who Hanuman Ji is. People from abroad are also liking the film very much.

You have announced the sequel of this film, so did you think even before making the film that there will be a sequel to this film or did you take the decision after the success of this film?

When we were shooting this film, the idea of a story came to us. ‘Jai Hanuman’ is about the promise made by Hanuman Ji to Lord Shri Ram. When I got this idea, we started writing about it. We have been working on his script for the last year. Now that Hanu Man has become such a big hit, we wanted to start the pre-production of that second film soon. For this, what could have been a better day than the consecration of Ayodhya Ram temple? Soon the shooting of this film will also start.

Would you like to share something about the experience of working with Teja?

He is my friend. We had done a film together earlier also called 'Zombie Reddy' which was a huge hit. Teja came to my office when I was casting for Hanu Man. When I saw him at that time, I felt that he would be right for this role. I called him and said let's do another film and I am making you a superhero in it.

Anything you would like to share with fans about your upcoming projects?

We are doing another superhero film named 'Adhira'. In this, the hero gets the powers of Indra ji and there will also be a female superhero in it. There will be a total of 12 superheroes in this film. My entire team will direct that film.

According to you, what is the special thing about this project that the audience is liking it so much?

Everyone likes Hanuman ji. I think I have shown Hanuman Ji correctly. I have shown the image of Hanuman Ji that is in everyone's mind on screen, and people liked it. Everyone was mesmerized after seeing Hanuman Ji on screen like this. People in the theater were raising slogans like Jai Hanuman and Jai Shri Ram. I think this is a phenomenal cinema and we always wanted to do good cinema. When I watched this movie for the first time, my heartbeat also increased, and my Apple watch was telling me that my heartbeat had increased and I should consult a doctor. I knew what was going to happen in the next scene and what would happen in it but still, my heartbeat increased because I was looking at Hanuman ji. I knew that the audience was also going to feel the same. We knew that the audience would like the film but we did not know that the film would become such a big commercial hit.

What would you like to say to your fans?

Many thanks to the Hindi audience who supported and loved this film so much. We spent a lot of time dubbing it so that it looked like a Hindi film. I am happy that like South India, the entire North India is enjoying this film. Keep supporting us like this, we will soon bring 'Jai Hanuman' for you. ‘Jai Hanuman’ is going to be a hundred times bigger than ‘Hanu Man’. You will get to see Hanuman Ji in more avatars. Similarly, give your love and support to our film.

 

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