HanuMan is culturally rooted, not religious: Director Prasanth Varma

Right from the time HanuMan was announced in 2021, there has been a lot of buzz about this first ever Telugu superhero film. Its 34 year old director, Prasanth Varma, attributes the excitement and craze around the film to none other than Lord Hanuman. “It’s all due to Hanuman ji. We are in Delhi right now and we just visited an ancient Hanuman ji temple and I have never seen so much crowd in a Hanuman ji temple before.

A lot of people love him, adore him and the way they pray to him is at another level. The buzz around the film is 99% Hanuman ji and one per cent my content,” smiles Varma, as he chats with HT exclusively about his latest film. Teja Sajja in a still from HanuMan. The much anticipated HanuMan stars Teja Sajja, Amritha Aiyer, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Raj Deepak Shetty and Vinay Rai, and is produced by Niranjan Reddy Kandagatla.

The movie is set to release on January 12, 2024, in Telugu, along with dubbed versions in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, English, Spanish, Korean, Japanese and Chinese. Wrap up the year gone by & gear up for 2024 with HT! Click here I didn’t want it to be a Marvel or DC like superhero film.

A culturally rooted superhero movie When asked about the inspiration behind this film, he reveals, “I always wanted to do a superhero film. In fact, I wanted to become a superhero! (laughs) Since I couldn’t do that I thought, let me make a film. I didn’t want it to be a Marvel or DC like superhero film but something indigenous and culturally rooted.

The first thought that came to mind was Hanuman ji and I wrote the story. Then I got multiple ideas for various superheroes based on our itihaas (history) and it took off from there.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Prasanth Varma (@prasanthvarmaofficial) HanuMan has ancient elements though it is set in modern times and Varma says the ‘coolest thing’ about the film is that the story happens in a parallel universe called ‘Akhand Bharat’.

Interestingly, when Varma and his team were thinking of Hanuman as a title for this film, Megastar Chiranjeevi also spoke about Hanuman being a cool superhero on TV and they finalised the title. Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe? Now, there is some chatter about the Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe as Varma has Adhira, another superhero film, lined up post HanuMan.

“This is a very ambitious project for me. When I started working on HanuMan, my sister (who writes with me), my team of writers and I started generating many superheroes and thought it would be very cool if we could create a story arc connecting all these various superheroes and their stories. If HanuMan becomes a success, then I can divulge more about that,” explains Varma.

Many who worked on the VFX on this film are from other religions. The Telugu director, who is known for his films Awe and Zombie Reddy, was keen to tell the story of Hanumanthu, played by Tejja Sajja, as soon as he could. “HanuMan is very culturally rooted and unlike any other superhero film the audience would’ve seen.

It’s in an Indian story telling template and has songs, emotions and so on. Initially, I thought I would pitch the film to a star but I’d have to wait a while to get their dates. Moreover, this story needs an underdog and the audience would relate better to an actor rather than a star. Cinema is the biggest star and I wanted to be genuine to the process of cinema.

I wanted to cast someone who suits the role rather than a star just to make more money,” stresses Varma, who calls himself as the Eklavya sishya of ace director SS Rajamouli. In fact, he sought inputs from Rajamouli periodically through the making of this film. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Prasanth Varma (@prasanthvarmaofficial) No mention of religion The ambitious director says that once he hands over the first copy of the film, he usually gets detached but HanuMan is a different experience and an important film for him.

“If this film works, I want to introduce new directors for the subsequent superhero projects. There is a lot of scope to tell other stories from our itihaas and culture. That’s why I want this film to work,” says Varma who is busy promoting the film across India. While HanuMan seems to have elements of Hinduism, will it cut across all religions and be appealing to everyone? Pat comes the reply from Varma, “There is no mention of religion in this movie.

There’s only the Hanuman ji character. There are a lot of people from other religions who respect and love Hanuman ji. For instance, many who worked on the VFX on this film are from other religions. Our entire team has given its best to this movie. HanuMan is going to appeal to all ages and there is not a single element that’ll make you uncomfortable in this film.

You can go with your entire family, have fun and get blessed.” ott:10 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Share this article Share Via Copy Link Hanuman.