HanuMan director Prasanth Varma justifies film’s release for Sankranthi - ‘We have the biggest superstar…’

HanuMan was a film meant to be made on a small scale but destiny had other ideas. While Prasanth Varma undoubtedly had great vision for the film during the scripting stages, it took him the teaser launch to understand the impact that good VFX can make and the care he had to take during post-production. After commencing filming in June 2021, the film is finally releasing on January 12, 2024.

The choice to release the film for Sankranthi 2024 means that the makers, PrimeShow Entertainment, were ready to clash with several star-driven films that generally arrive during that season. While HanuMan and Guntur Kaaram release on January 12, Saindhav and Eagle arrive on January 13, with Nagarjuna’s Naa Saami Ranga likely to open on January 14.

Also read: HanuMan - All you need to know about Prasanth Varma, Teja Sajja’s superhero film

Justifying his decision to release HanuMan during the festival season, Prasanth Varma, at the trailer launch event today, remarked, “Many keep asking us about the decision to clash with many big films. We have the biggest global superstar with us: HanuMan. We were the earliest to confirm the release date on January 12. We believe it’s our best chance to grab eyeballs.”

The filmmaker admitted that getting theatres would be an uphill task, but they’re working towards it. Being a Mahesh Babu and a Trivikram fan himself, Prasanth Varma says he wouldn’t miss watching Guntur Kaaram on January 12. “However, for HanuMan, I have faith that it’ll last much beyond the festival season. It’s a small-budget film, yes, but our ambition with the film is big.”

The film is expected to have an edge in the Hindi-speaking market, with a release on over 1500 screens (versus 400 in Telugu states). Despite Saindhav and Eagle featuring major stars like Ravi Teja and Venkatesh, the appeal of a kid-friendly tale centred on HanuMan is wider and the film is expected to draw audiences across all age groups.

Also read: HanuMan on OTT - Where to watch Teja Sajja, Amritha Aiyer, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar’s film after its theatrical run 

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