Sandeep Reddy Vanga calls SS Rajamouli, Mahesh Babu's Varanasi a bigger film than Spirit with Prabhas

Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Spirit with Prabhas and SS Rajamouli's Varanasi with Mahesh Babu will be released a month apart.

Filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga spoke to the press while promoting the upcoming film Romanchakam, produced by his brother Pranay Reddy Vanga’s Bhadrakali Pictures. He spoke about his upcoming film, Spirit, which stars Prabhas and Triptii Dimri. He also spoke about Spirit releasing a month before SS Rajamouli’s Varanasi, calling the latter a bigger film.

Prabhas and Triptii Dimri in a still from Spirit, Mahesh Babu in a still from Varanasi.

Sandeep Reddy Vanga says Varanasi is bigger than Spirit

At the press conference held in Hyderabad, a reporter mentioned that Spirit will be released on March 5, while Varanasi will be released in April. When they called both ‘ ₹1000 crore films’, Sandeep chimed in and corrected, “Aa film inka peddadi andi (That film is bigger),” while gesturing no.

When the filmmaker was asked if the one-month gap was enough to get good business, he confidently replied, “It will be enough, we have around 37 days. I am thinking it should be enough.” The reporter kept pushing about Spirit clashing with another big-budget film, and Sandeep jovially said, “Okay, we’ll shift the date. What? (laughs) Is that what you want to hear? Nothing like that, it’ll be enough.”

Says Spirit will be rated ‘A’ by the CBFC

Later, Sandeep spoke about his earlier films all being censored with ‘A’, but Romanchakam being the production house’s first ‘U/A’ film. When asked if the ‘streak’ is breaking, he joked that no matter what he does, he knows that the CBFC will censor Spirit ‘A’ in the future. “Spirit will be censored with an A. No matter how hard we try, they will give an A certificate,” he said. The filmmaker also revealed that they have finished shooting half the film.

About Spirit and Varanasi

Directed by Sandeep and produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar under T-Series Films, alongside Pranay Reddy Vanga and Prabhakar Reddy Vanga under Bhadrakali Pictures, Spirit will hit screens on March 5, 2027. It stars Prabhas, Triptii Dimri and Vivek Oberoi in lead roles. The film’s initial glimpse featured Prakash Raj’s voice, but he will not star in the film. There were also rumours that Korean action star Don Lee would star in it, but Pranay recently shut them down.

Varanasi is directed by Rajamouli, who co-wrote the film with his father, V Vijayendra Prasad and cousin SS Kanchi. It is produced by Sri Durga Arts and Showing Business. The film stars Mahesh, Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran in lead roles. It is slated for release on April 7, 2027. Both films have high expectations pinned on them. It remains to be seen how they fare.