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PVCU: Everything about Prasanth Varma's superhero franchise, from Jai Hanuman, Mahakali to Adhira
Tollywood filmmaker Prasanth Varma has become the talk of the town after the mammoth box office success of Teja Sajja's HanuMan. The superhero movie received high admiration from across the globe. Now, all eyes are on the next projects under Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe (PVCU), including Mahakali, Adhira and Jai Hanuman.
Here's everything you need to know about Prasanth Varma's superhero franchise.
After the blockbuster HanuMan, Varma has lined up several projects under PVCU, the latest being PVCU3, Mahakali. Before this, Varma had announced Jai Hanuman, Adhira with Dasari Kalyan, and the yet-to-be-titled flick with Mokshagna Teja.
JaiHanuman
The first movie under the franchise announced after HanuMan was Jai Hanuman. While several reports have been doing rounds since the announcement, the makers haven't yet finalised the cast and other crucial things. As per earlier reports, Varma has plans to rope in big actors from Bollywood for crucial roles. However, there have been reports of the filmmaker giving priority to casting Mahesh Babu and Chiranjeevi in the lead roles. However, nothing is yet finalised. Meanwhile, Varma has already confirmed that he will be directing Jai Hanuman.
During a recent interview with Hindustan Times, Varma said, “I didn’t want to direct anything other than HanuMan. But I feel a responsibility towards giving a good film to the audience with Jai Hanuman now.”
It is speculated that Varma has plans to assemble all the superheroes of his franchise together in Jai Hanuman, which will be a massive battle. Before Jai Hanuman, Varma will introduce all his superheroes with different divine powers.
Adhira
Adhira is one of the highly-anticipated superhero movies. While the official teaser was dropped before HanuMan's teaser, the Teja Sajja-starrer released first.
Talking about Adhira during the interview, the filmmaker said, "People talk like Adhira was put on hold, but we’ve been working hard to crack its story all this time. It was the toughest to crack out of all the films in this universe. It also took a lot of pre-production work, but we’re ready now.”
While Varma has made it clear that he will not be directing the movie, the team is yet to lock the helmer for Adhira.
Notably, in Adhira the superhero derives his power from Hindu demigod Indra, who is the ultimate source of thunder and rain. He is often depicted riding his white elephant Airavata wielding his Vajra Astra. In a similar way, the teaser of Adhira shows the superhero wielding the power of thunder and even holding a Vajra Astra. Well, more details will be revealed by the makers soon.
MokshagnaTeja'sdebutwithyet-to-be-titledflick
Telugu actor Nandamuri Balakrishna's son, Mokshagna Teja, is making his acting debut with PVCU2. It was earlier speculated that the movie's title is Simba, however, Varma cleared the air that the movie is yet to get a title. While Varma had no interest in directing another movie, he was left with no other choice for his relationship with actor Balakrishna.
"I had no other choice due to the kind of relationship I have with Balakrishna garu. It’s more a personal decision than a professional one. I’m also okay with doing it because the story is exciting,” said Varma.
However, it is not yet known what god the film will be based on. Talking about the same, Varma said that it will be revealed with the film's title. While the movie is currently in the pre-production phase, Mokshagna is prepping up to don his superhero Cape.
Mahakali
The recently announced flick under PVCU is Mahakali. With this, Varma is launching the first female superhero under his superhero universe and the fiercest one. PVCU3, Mahakali, announced during the auspicious occasion of Dussehra, will be helmed by Puja Kolluru. While the lead actress of the movie is not yet announced, Varma has penned the tale of the invincible warrior, protector of the righteous and destroyer of evil with his creativity.
However, Varma clarified that though it is not challenging for him to cast a big star in the titular role now, he will not be 'brown-facing (when light-skinned people wear darker makeup in an attempt to look dusky) anyone to fit the role’.
Whysuperherogenre?
Talking about picking this genre, Varma said that at first people told him that the superhero genre would not work in India and the films wouldn't be bankable. But, he always wanted to do superhero films. Further, he said that at first, he didn't like Batman before Christopher Nolan took over. When his time came to write something of his own he knew that there needed to be magic.
"My interest in reading up Indian mythology pushed me to write these stories, to base my superheroes on Gods. I might as well explore with the sub-genres of these stories," he added.
Talking about his superhero franchise, Varma said, "HanuMan had a Disney-like feel, but the other films in PVCU will not be in a similar vein. It’s also not always going to be the story of an underdog.”
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