With the arrival of The Raja Saab’s teaser, the stage is set for the grand return of Telugu star Prabhas to the silver screen. Judging by the latest promo video, the horror-fantasy film will feature the “Rebel Star” in a never-seen-before avatar that highlights his quirky and charming side, rather than his prowess in action sequences, which dominated most of his recent films.
Meanwhile, the hype generated by The Raja Saab’s teaser has also heightened the anticipation for Prabhas’ upcoming actioner Spirit, helmed by controversial filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga. The project had recently made headlines following Bollywood star Deepika Padukone’s reported exit from it, allegedly due to multiple reasons, including her demand for eight-hour shifts. Spirit became an indirect topic of discussion at The Raja Saab teaser launch event held in Hyderabad recently, where the producers shared their thoughts on the feasibility of implementing eight-hour shifts in film production.
“It’s already public how the film took two and a half years. The first difficult thing that we executed was that we had our big schedule post Kalki 2898 AD, starting by the end of July-mid August to all the way to end of December. I don’t know how Maruthi managed. He started at 6 am and ends at 11 pm and continued this for more than 120 days,” The Raja Saab’s producer TG Vishwa Prasad pointed out. He also revealed that nearly 300 days were spent solely on the film’s VFX work.
Maintaining that the actors worked only around eight hours every day in the film, The Raja Saab director Maruthi said that he and his crew, however, worked double shifts to complete the film within the stipulated time. “What happens, they (actors) will work an 8-hour shift. I will keep some actors on one side (shift) and then [shoot with] some actors. But we (the crew) will work 18 hours a day: from morning, 6 am to 10 pm, we used to work definitely. That is why we could shoot this much quality and content,” he told India Today. The Raja Saab will hit the screens worldwide on December 5, 2025.
It may be recalled that Deepika Padukone reportedly left Spirit after several of her demands, including an eight-hour workday, huge pay, a share in profits and her refusal to speak Telugu lines, were not accommodated. Subsequently, actor Triptii Dimri, who previously worked with Vanga in the controversial Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Animal (2023), was brought on board as the female lead. Spirit will go on the floors later this year.
