Telugu movie HanuMan has been doing wonders at the worldwide and domestic box office. Helmed by Prasanth Varma and starring Teja Sajja in the lead, the worldwide box office collection of the first superhero Telugu flick on day 15 stands at Rs 250 crore. The film, made at a mere budget of Rs 40 crore, has been praised by critics for its depiction of the classic good versus evil superhero story with a touch of mythology.
Even on day 16, the movie recorded a humongous footfall of 1 crore audience in theaters.
While movie lovers across the country continue to shower praises on HanuMan, the director recently announced its sequel titled Jai Hanuman. The helmer also revealed that the movie will be served as the 2nd instalment of his ambitious cinematic universe. Currently, reports are abuzz that the filmmaker is in talks with a popular Bollywood actor to play the lead character. However, updates regarding the matter are yet to be obtained.
Recently, Teja Sajja dropped a hint that he might have a role in the sequel and reprise his character of Hanumantha from HanuMan in the sequel. Further, he also revealed that the prime character in Jai Hanuman is Lord Hanuman and the story will revolve around him.
Following the humongous success of HanuMan, the expectations of fans and movie lovers have reached the zenith. While it is now known that Jai Hanuman will revolve around Lord Hanuman, fans are quite eager to know more about the cinematic universe.
During a recent chat with Siddharth Kanan, Varma revealed his plans for the cinematic universe and how he intends to expand it.
Revealing about his next movie of the cinematic universe, Varma said that the next movie will be Adhira which will be based on the central character who gets power from Lord Indra.
The next instalment will be a female-centric superhero which would be the first Indian female superhero movie. Expressing his excitement, the director said, "I think that film will become an iconic one for the women of India. They will connect with this film and will want to wear the clothes/cape (the superhero is wearing).
Notably, following the monstrous box office success of HanuMan, Varma revealed that he has been receiving unlimited budget offers for Jai Hanuman. However, he said that he doesn't want to spend a mammoth budget like Rs 1000 crore, just for the sake of it. The helmer was quoted as saying, "It could be the biggest film in India, but we don't want to waste the budget on remuneration and other stuff like that. We already have the script and the storyboard is ready. So, we will do it one shot at a time and see where it goes budget-wise. But, it's not like I am mentally prepared to make this film with Rs 1000 crore. That's not the intention. We will spend only what is required for the film and the story."
By now, all are aware that HanuMan was made a mere budget of Rs 40 crore, excluding the advertising and marketing costs. Varma revealed that it became a joke among his team when everyone started praising him for delivering such a major hit on such a small budget. Varma quipped, "I always overshot my films. Now, everybody is saying that I am a filmmaker who makes films on small budgets."
Though Varma emphasised that he is very economical with his work process and doesn't shoot any unnecessary footage, he said that he is infamous for increasing the budgets of his films.
Also Read: Jai Hanuman: Teja Sajja talks about his character, Prasanth Varma opens up about 'unlimited budget' for sequel
Varma added that whenever he met a producer, he told him, 'No matter how much I try, the budget will keep increasing because I keep coming up with new ideas.' However, he told them at first that if they thought the idea was worth putting more money into it, then they could give the money and he would shoot the scene. But, if they think they can't give more, he will still shoot the scene.
"But, I improvise a lot, while shooting, while writing, while editing, during dubbing," he said.
Well, such a revelation about his cinematic universe and his work process will certainly earn him more appreciation and fame. Moreover, with his vision, he could be able to add more feathers to his cap.