Subhash Chandra Bose singing Prabhas' praises to Adolf Hitler in Fauzi teaser has the internet cringing: 'Trying hard to be Dhurandhar'

The teaser of Prabhas' Fauzi features a conversation between Subhash Chandra Bose and Adolf Hitler discussing the protagonist.

The makers of Fauzi, Prabhas’ upcoming action thriller, celebrated the actor’s 47th birthday on Friday, by dropping the first video asset from the film. The teaser, dubbed File No 25 by the film's marketing team, sees Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose meeting German dictator Adolf Hitler during the height of World War II, and strangely enough, spending a good amount of time praising Prabhas’ character. While fans of the actor were all for the introduction, many on the internet found it cringeworthy and even disrespectful to Netaji’s legacy.

A still from Fauzi teaser showing Adolf Hitler and Subhash Chandra Bose in conversation.

Why are Bose and Hitler talking about Prabhas?

Fauzi is a period action thriller set in the 1930s and 40s, with Prabhas playing an Indian spy helping the Indian National Army in the freedom struggle. The teaser shows Bose brag about Prabhas’ unnamed character’s exploits against the British, particularly how he has infuriated the colonial powers with his Bhagavat Gita-inspired code. He even says that the ‘fauzi’s’ code machine is better than the Nazis’ Enigma. Hitler seems impressed by this spy’s description and even shows comical eagerness to meet him. The tearser then introduces Prabhas riling up a heavy machine gun, waiting to attack on somebody. A voice over shows him taunt the Brits with a variation of Bose's line, proclaiming that he will not only draw the Empire's blood himself, but also snatch freedom from their clutches.

Internet finds the conversation cringe

While fans of Prabhas were more than happy to see their Rebel Star back in action, others were not so convinced by the manner of his introduction. One YouTube user complained, “They use Subhash Chandra Bose to build up aura of Prabhas.” Another echoed the sentiment on Reddit and wrote, “What's more painful is using a real historic figure, a true national hero Bose to hype up a fictional, stupid, mass masala TFI (Telugu film industry) hero. Very sad and infuriating at the same time, very disrespectful and insulting to his legacy. As an ardent fan of Bose I'm gonna skip this.” Many others said they were initially excited about the film but were now considering skipping it. “I was excited about the film, and I just lost all interest after this. I will not watch it either. I am glad I'm not the only one who thinks this,” wrote one.

The Dhurandhar comparisons

Many online felt that Fauzi was trying to be like Dhurandhar in blending reality with fiction in a patriotic setting, but added that it fell short of how the Aditya Dhar film did. “They're trying too hard to be like Dhurandhar, but at least Dhurandhar had some amount of subtlety. This has no subtlety at all. And the hairstyle of Hitler looks really fake,” wrote one on Reddit. Another added, “Do Generals ever talk about spies? Sure they say we have cables etc. But bragging like a kid? Is film director on something?”

All about Fauzi

Directed by Hanu Raghavapudi, Fauzi is made under the production of Mythri Movie Makers and presented by T-Series Films. The film is produced by Naveen Yerneni, Y Ravi Shankar & Bhushan Kumar. The film is slated to release in theatres on March 19, 2027.