Nagarjuna equates Indian mass heroes to superheroes like Superman, Iron Man: ‘A guy raises his fist, 20 people fall’

Actor Nagarjuna spoke at WAVES 2025 about why he thinks Indian mass heroes as no less than Marvel or DC's superheroes when engaging the audience.

Actor Nagarjuna attended the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 in Mumbai on Friday and spoke on the panel for Pan-Indian Cinema: Myth or Momentum? He was joined by actors Anupam Kher, Khushbu Sundar and Karthi for the session. The actor talked about why he believes Indian mass heroes are no less than DC or Marvel’s superheroes at the event. (Also Read: Why were Allu Arjun's Pushpa and Yash's KGF bigger successes in Hindi than Telugu and Kannada? Nagarjuna has the answer)

Actor Nagarjuna during a session Pan-Indian Cinema: Myth or Momentum? at the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025, in Mumbai. (PTI)

Nagarjuna on Indian mass heroes

Nagarjuna stated during the session that Indian films benefit from having a unique storytelling DNA, which is something to be proud of. He said, “You might say, a guy raises his fist and twenty people fall, it looks abnormal. But if you like Marvel or DC films, Superman does the same thing, but they give the logic of them having superpowers. But we don’t need those special powers.”

He added that the audience just wants a larger-than-life hero and that when Allu Arjun or Prabhas do that on-screen, it makes him sheer. “The common man, the ticket-paying audience, including me, wants to watch my heroes larger than life. When I see Prabhas, Allu Arjun and others on-screen and doing what they do, I clap and whistle,” said Nagarjuna.

Upcoming work

Nagarjuna was last seen in the 2024 Sankranthi film, Naa Saami Ranga. Before that, he starred in the 2022 films Bangarraju and The Ghost. The actor will soon star in Sekhar Kammula’s Kuberaa and Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Coolie.

The former film will see Dhanush, Rashmika Mandanna and Jim Sarbh as his co-stars, while the latter is with Rajinikanth, Shruti Haasan, Upendra, Soubin Shahir, Sathyaraj, Reba Monica John, Junior MGR and Monisha Blessy. Coolie, which will also feature Aamir Khan in a cameo, will be released in theatres on August 14 and will clash with Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR’s War 2.