What’s next for Akshaye Khanna after the blockbuster Dhurandhar (2025)? Trust the actor to take a departure from mainstream Hindi actioners and try his hand at something new. That explains his maiden Telugu film, Mahakali, which also marks his first mythological superhero action movie. Khanna — who plays Asura guru Shukracharya, at odds with the protagonist essayed by Bhoomi Shetty — recently wrapped up his portions in the Puja Aparna Kolluru-directed movie.

It turns out the actor was drawn to the film’s ambitious world, more so to his character’s complexity. Excited about joining the Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe, he began shooting for Mahakali in May 2025.

A source told mid-day, “Choosy as ever, Akshaye agreed to play Asura guru Shukracharya as he was intrigued by the role. In Hindu mythology, he was the revered teacher of the Asuras and advised them in their battles against the gods. His primary role was to revive the dead demons, while Maa Kali’s role was to destroy the demon army. That put them on opposite sides of the conflict. Shukracharya is considered a knowledgeable sage rather than inherently evil. He is a misunderstood character in Indian scriptures, and Akshaye loved that complexity.”

The unit shot an extensive schedule from February to April this year. Now, they are shooting the last leg in Kolkata. “On May 9, the team filmed near the Dakshineswar Temple. Principal photography will be completed by July,” added the source.

A couple of days after news emerged that a few Tollywood producers, including Hanuman (2024) production house M/S Primeshow Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., had complained to the Telugu Film Chamber that Prasanth Varma allegedly took advances and failed to deliver films, the director broke his silence.

Taking to X, Prasanth denied all allegations: “I categorically state that the allegations made against me are all false, baseless, and retaliatory.”

The 36-year-old pointed out that once a matter is in the industry forum, all parties are expected not to dispute it in the media. “Any attempt to publish internal pleadings, emails, agreements, or financial details at this stage amounts to interference with the proceedings and is clearly intended to prejudice public opinion,” he wrote. Prasanth also urged the media to refrain from publishing any further news until the Film Chamber announces the outcome.

The controversy dates back to October 11, when, in a letter addressed to the Telugu Film Producers Council, producer K Niranjan Reddy alleged that Prasanth did not honour his commitments despite having taken advances from him. The complaint states that while shooting for Hanuman in 2021, Prasanth had agreed with the producer to further collaborate on Adhira, Mahakali, Jai Hanuman, and Brahma Rakshas as part of the PVCU with him.

Shukracharya, the Asura Guru, is a complex figure in Hindu mythology, revered as the preceptor of the Asuras and a keeper of secret knowledge. Akshaye Khanna’s transformation as Shukracharya in Tollywood’s first female superhero film Mahakali, has been the talk of T-town.

Director Puja Kolluru, spills the beans on the thought behind the character in the film. “He is not fully a villain or entirely a good person. He moves between both. To represent this duality, we chose a monochromatic grey palette, with a silvery feel to give him an ancient aura,” she explains.

Showrunner Prasanth Varma adds, “Shukracharya is one of the most complex figures in the itihasas. We will explore his backstory. He plays a major role in Mahakali and will continue in the larger cinematic universe.”

Actor Akshaye Khanna will soon debut in Telugu. He will play a pivotal role in the first female superhero film in the Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe (PVCU), Mahakali.

Though the source, close to the film’s unit, is mum on whether his character is an antagonist or a positive one, they tell HT that, “All we can reveal is that his role will add intrigue and depth to the growing PVCU universe. His role will span across multiple films in the franchise and will prove to be an exciting addition. We’re hoping Mahakali is received as well as HanuMan (2024) was.”

The source also tells us that the film is yet to go on floors, as Prasanth, who conceptualised the film, and director Puja Aparna Kolluru are working on finalising the cast and other details.

“Prasanth is particular about who he wants to cast as the lead because this will be his first female superhero, and it requires a certain charm while challenging beauty standards. Hopefully, all details will be ironed out soon, and the film will officially be rolled out,” says the source.

PVCU was kicked off last year with Teja Sajja’s superhero film HanuMan, based on Lord Hanuman’s lore. A sequel to it, Jai Hanuman with actor Rishab Shetty, is in the works. Mahakali is the third superhero film in the franchise, based on Goddess Kali.

Prasanth spoke to HT about the film, last year in October after the film’s announcement, and had said, “Casting a big star to play Mahakali is no longer challenging, but that’s not the point. When the film is being made to challenge beauty standards, I want to ensure we do our bit not to propagate it, too.”

For some time now, buzz has been strong about a possible collaboration between filmmaker Prasanth Varma and Tamil star Karthi. However, fans may need to be patient, as this director-actor duo is not set to join forces just yet.

In an exclusive conversation with us, Varma confirms pitching a script to the Ponniyin Selvan actor, but also says that their busy schedules would make an immediate collaboration unlikely. Varma shares, “Karthi and I have met and discussed something, but nothing will happen immediately. I have two to three films in the pipeline and he, too, has a couple of projects. We might collaborate later.”

So, does he have a character in mind for Karthi? “We have already pitched a story to him and he has liked it. But he needs to wrap up his current commitments. We will figure out the dates then and see how things unfold,” says Varma.

On a separate note, after pulling off a hit, the Teja Sajja-starrer Hanuman, the filmmaker has announced its sequel, titled Jai Hanuman. “The film’s pre-production work has been underway for the last few months. I am just waiting to put it all together, and the announcement will be made next month,” he says.

The box-office performance of his Telugu superhero film Hanuman came as a surprise to many. Now, Prasanth Varma says he wants to expand the film’s universe by getting a few Bollywood actors on board besides Telugu actors. Having announced two films from the franchise already — Jai Hanuman and Adhira, the director recently announced one more film from the Hanuman universe — Simba — starring Moksh Nandamuri.

“I have met a few actors and exchanged ideas with them, but it will take time. Some actors from Bollywood will surely be a part of the Hanuman universe,” he says.

The director also confirms that Jai Hanuman, which was slated for a January 2025 release, has been pushed. “Had Hanuman made only Rs. 100 crore, we would have been finishing Jai Hanuman by now. But since the film earned way more than that (Rs. 350 crore worldwide), our responsibility has also increased,” says Varma.

Sharing an update on the film’s status, the director adds, “We are doing a lot of prep and have worked a lot on the script. We are making sure that whatever you’d expect Hanuman ji to do, we have that in the film. It has come out well, and the casting is almost done. For Hanuman, we shot the film first and the VFX were added later. But now, we are prepping for that beforehand, so the post-production shouldn’t take much time.”

Varma continues: “The shoot hasn’t started yet. Adhira will come before Jai Hanuman, and we are working on two other films. We are aiming to release two films every year.”

Prasanth Varma’s Telugu film Hanuman became one of the biggest hits of 2024 and now it is heading for a release in Japan this October. In addition, the makers are planning a re-release of the Teja Sajja-starrer in India too. Talking to us, the director reveals, “The international versions of Hanu-Man will be released in 3D, and we are planning to re-release the film in 3D in select screens in India around the same time as the Japanese release as well.”

Discussing how Japan is turning out to be a lucrative market for South films following the success of RRR (2022) and Kalki 2898AD in Japan, he says, “The South Indian sensibilities are very similar to Japanese and Korean sensibilities, and if your film has potential, the Japanese audience will embrace it.”

Explaining why the Japanese market has more demand for South films compared to Hindi, he opines, “Over time, Hindi films have had a heavy influence of the West, and started imitating it, whereas it’s comparably quite less in the South.”

Varma adds that they aren’t dubbing the film instead will release the original audio with Japanese subtitles. “Apparently these days, people are accustomed to watching films in their original language with subtitles. They don’t want to watch the dubbed versions,” he shares.

Hanu-Man emerged a massive box office success in a year that has been quite challenging for Hindi films. Reflecting on it, Varma says, “People today are going to theatres only if the film is good. Ticket pricing plays a major role now as earlier, going to the cinemas didn’t use to be that expensive. One of the main reasons for Hanu-Man working is because we kept the ticket prices very low. The number of people who saw Hanu-Man is actually higher than many big budgeted films and that’s why we got the collection we did — even at low ticket prices. The audience didn’t feel that they’d have to spend a fortune to see it.”

According to Varma, what might work at the box office is “going local”. He suggests, “Don’t try to make films like Hollywood, try telling your own stories. If you look at films like Kantara (2022), even the global audience is embracing them because that’s a story they don’t know. But if you are making a spy film, Hollywood has already made better ones. I would suggest finding stories that are not there elsewhere. Make films with stories that your grandma told you because that works.”

Amid speculation that Hanuman director Prasanth Varma took a veiled dig at actor Ranveer Singh via a cryptic post on his X account, stating “One day you realise every rejection was a blessing in disguise”, the director tells us that the post was “not targeted at anyone”. Varma and Singh were slated to work together on a film called Rakshas some time ago, but it fell through due to creative differences.

Clearing the air, Varma says, “It (what he wrote on X) was a generic feeling I had in the morning and I thought of posting it. I was thinking about the overall journey I’ve had. Had people not rejected me in my initial years, I wouldn’t have ended up making Hanuman. I was feeling grateful because had I done any of the films that I had previously pitched to other actors, Hanuman would have never happened.”

Shedding light on why he and Singh couldn’t work together, the 35-year-old notes, “There were different points of view with regards to the film. I really respect him for the actor he is. And I believe that even he respects my work.”

Ask if there’s any bad blood between the two, since Singh pulled out of a project that was officially announced, and Varma says they share a cordial bond: “We still talk to each other. It (the movie) just couldn’t happen, but our relationship has stayed.”

n recent weeks, actor Ranveer Singh and filmmaker Prasanth Varma have been making headlines due to rumours of a rift between them, with speculation suggesting that their collab on the pan-India project Rakshas was in jeopardy due to creative differences. Now, both of them have stepped forward to confirm that they indeed have parted ways on the project. In a joint statement, they expressed mutual respect and admiration for each other while acknowledging that this wasn’t the “ideal time for the film” to proceed. 

Singh praised Varma as “a very special talent,” adding, “We met and explored the idea of a film together. Hopefully, we will collaborate on something exciting in the future.” While Prasanth, who rose to fame after directing HanuMan, said, “We shall manifest our forces combining soon sometime in the future.”

Reports had emerged last week suggesting that Singh had a falling out with the makers with some claiming that he abruptly exited the film after just three days of shooting. 

On Wednesday, Arjun Kapoor wrapped up his portion in Singham Again and bid farewell to the Rohit Shetty-led team through a heartfelt note (A wrap, May 16). Next, it appears to be Ranveer Singh’s turn to shed the character of Simmba. We hear the actor has shot most of his portions for the Ajay Devgn-fronted cop caper and will bid adieu to the film by the month-end.

A source tells us, “Some patchwork shoot is left that will be wrapped up in Film City in the next two weeks.”

That leaves Singh with an all-important question: what next? Trade insiders indicate that the superstar has three projects on his plate, including Aditya Dhar’s gangster drama Dhurandhar, Prasanth Varma’s next, and Don 3 with Farhan Akhtar.

The source says, “He is expected to begin his film with Aditya in June. Over the past few weeks, he has been having conversations with Prasanth of Hanuman fame regarding their next, tentatively titled Rakshas. Rooted in Indian mythology and set in the pre-Independence era, the movie sees him in a grey role and has piqued his curiosity. In all likelihood, Ranveer will lock the details by the month-end. As of now, the plan is to wrap Dhurandhar in a start-to-finish schedule by July-end, take a break in August before kicking off Prasanth’s film in September.”

Actor Ranveer Singh seems to be in the busiest phase of his career. After Rohit Shetty’s Singham Again and Farhan Akhtar’s Don 3 in the pipeline, the actor is all set to collaborate with HanuMan director Prasanth Varma for his next.

A source from Varma’s team exclusively told us that Singh is “interested” in working with the filmmaker but is yet to sign on the dotted line. “Yes, it’s true that Prasanth approached Ranveer for a film in his cinematic universe. It will be his next project after Hanuman. Ranveer is interested and it is almost confirmed but nothing has been finalized yet. An official announcement will be made once it is finalized,” the insider revealed.

Hanuman, which marks the beginning of the Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe (PVCU), was released earlier this year. Shortly after, Varma announced the second instalment — Jai Hanuman — on the occasion of the Pran Prathistha of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

Varma had taken to X to share the news. “With gratitude for the immense love and support showered upon #HanuMan from audiences across the globe, I stand at the threshold of a new journey by making a promise to myself! #JaiHanuman Pre-Production Begins on the auspicious day of Ram Mandir Pran Prathistha,” he wrote. Whether Singh will be part of Jai Hanuman is not yet confirmed.

Set in the fictional village of Anjanadri, HanuMan featured actors Teja Sajja, Amritha Aiyer, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Vinay Rai in the lead roles. The film earned over Rs. 100 crore at the worldwide box office.

Mounted on a budget of Rs. 40 crore, Prasanth Varma’s superhero film Hanuman has minted Rs. 250 crore at the global box office. At a time when films with enormous budgets fall flat both in VFX and collections, the Telugu movie has surprised one and all.

“I knew it will be liked by the audience when we watched it before the release. But the box-office numbers are something we never expected or aimed at. This will help me make one more film,” he says.

The National Film Award-winning filmmaker also directed the first-ever Telugu zombie horror film, Zombie Reddy (2021). Initially set to become a software engineer, he found his calling after directing a music video. “That video did well, so my friend said, ‘Let’s do more’. That led to me making the short film A Silent Melody,” says Varma.

Having made the most of a relatively small budget with Hanuman, does Varma see himself deliver even more spectacular stuff with a bigger purse? “After this film, people will not come to me with big budgets. They will say, ‘Itne kam mein bana diya hai toh zyaada kyun?’ [But] I will collaborate with people who believe in a big vision. I was down and out personally and professionally when I wanted to make Zombie Reddy. My producer then came to me and said, ‘What do you want to make?’ and I told him. He just said, ‘Sounds fun, let’s do it’. I was blessed to have such people back me,” says Varma, who has already announced the sequel to Hanuman.

With its worldwide gross income breaching the Rs. 150 crore mark, Prasanth Varma’s mythological superhero film Hanuman (Telugu), starring Teja Sajja, Amritha Iyer and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, has proved to be a dark horse. The director, who mounted the production on a limited budget of R40 crores, vouches for the power of VFX when highlighting how technology enhanced it.

“We used VFX only when it was required to elevate the experience, because the focus was on evoking the right emotions. We planned the shoot such that the film appeared to be driven by VFX, even though that’s not the case,” says Varma, further addressing speculation on whether Chiranjeevi played a cameo as Hanuman in the movie.

“I couldn’t find the courage to ask Chiru sir to do so. Hence, I used VFX. I have modelled the eyes of Hanuman ji on Chiru sir’s face.”

Varma admits that he finds the reception to his film rather surreal. “Our initial opinion was that if we only recovered the money that was invested in the film, we’d have the chance to make one more film with that amount,” he laughs, and adds, “Now that the film has done well, we plan to make a Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe—one of our own desi superheroes; those deeply rooted in our culture.”

His next edition, he reveals, will be titled Jai Hanuman. “There will be interesting characters who will lead every story, including Indradev, and Parushuram ji. Each main character of Indian history and mythology [will be presented to] the current generation. In this universe, Hanuman is from Andhra Pradesh, and the other superheroes will be from places like Kerala, Meghalaya, and Kolkata. The idea is to bring different superheroes from different languages and places, and yet, it will be dubbed in Telugu.”

As many as 20 scripts, he shares, are currently being written for this endeavour. “As we want to showcase six superheroes in phase one, their stories are ready. They are part of a parallel universe called Akhanda Bharat. The stories for Jai Hanuman and two more films are ready. We can start three films at the same time, with three different directors and technicians. We want to give opportunity to new talent.”

Varma’s film managed to set the cash registers ringing, even though he claims he got less than a 10 per cent-share of seat allotment in theatres, given that the film clashed with Mahesh Babu’s Guntur Kaaram. “That was heart-breaking. But we were always confident about the film.”

For director Prasanth Varma, Hanu-Man is a passion project. He found the perfect collaborator in Teja Sajja, who plays a modern-day superhero infused with the power of Hanuman. Fronting the ambitious project was a matter of pride for the Telugu actor, but on the ground level, it was a tough shoot. Despite extensive VFX to aid the storytelling, Sajja says pulling off the action sequences was taxing.

“It was a physically demanding film. We shot the movie for about 120 days, out of which 70 days were about filming action scenes. I suffered many injuries. Prasanth is someone who won’t compromise on [his shots]. I used to do close to 25 takes for each shot while hanging from ropes because the timing of the camera, movement of the rope and landing positions [had to be perfect],” says the actor.

With Hanu-Man, the director has married Artificial Intelligence (AI) apps with storytelling. Last June, mid-day had reported how Varma and his AI prompt engineers utilized Midjourney to design the film’s posters (How AI gives birth to a new team of prompt engineers in Indian cinema, June 11).

Impressed by the results, Varma assembled a team that could harness the power of AI technology to create the superhero movie. The director shares, “The work of the AI team is not restricted to storytelling. In fact, for Hanu-Man, we created one character entirely on AI and then used 3D modelling to complete the final look.”