Prabhas‘s pre-independence war drama Fauji is in its final phase of shooting at Ramoji Film City, with the film targeting an October 2026 theatrical release. Directed by Hanu Raghavapudi and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, the Pan-India project casts Prabhas as a soldier fighting in India’s freedom movement, mounted on a scale that the production describes as one of its most ambitious undertakings.
What Is Fauji About?
Fauji is set in pre-independence India, with Prabhas playing a soldier who joins the fight against British rule during the freedom movement. The film is described as an epic and emotional war saga — a period drama built around both battlefield scale and the personal cost of the struggle for independence. The production has used massive sets at Ramoji Film City to recreate the era, with lavish production design across what the team describes as one of the most ambitious physical recreations in recent Telugu cinema.
The word “Fauji” itself — meaning soldier in Hindi and Urdu — signals the film’s emotional centre: not a political epic about the independence movement in broad strokes, but a story rooted in the experience of a combatant within it. That framing, personal and grounded inside a large canvas, is consistent with Hanu Raghavapudi’s approach in his previous period work.
When Is Fauji Releasing?
Fauji is aiming for an October 2026 theatrical release, targeting the Dussehra window — the same Pooja/Navratri corridor that is one of South Indian cinema’s most competitive slots of the year. With the final shoot currently underway at Ramoji Film City, the October target appears realistic given the production’s current pace. A Pan-India release across Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada is expected given both the scale of the production and Prabhas’s consistent national reach since Baahubali.
Who Stars in Fauji?
Prabhas leads the film as the central soldier, with Imanvi — a newcomer making her acting debut — cast as the female lead opposite him. The supporting cast brings significant veteran weight: Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, and Jaya Prada all feature in key roles, giving the film a cast that spans multiple generations and industries. Mithun Chakraborty and Jaya Prada both have deep roots in the 1980s and 1990s era of Hindi cinema, and their presence in a period freedom-movement drama carries a specific nostalgic and symbolic resonance.
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Prabhas | Lead — soldier in the freedom movement |
| Imanvi | Female lead (debut) |
| Mithun Chakraborty | Supporting cast |
| Anupam Kher | Supporting cast |
| Jaya Prada | Supporting cast |
| Hanu Raghavapudi | Director |
| Mythri Movie Makers | Production |
Who Is Directing Fauji and What Is Hanu Raghavapudi Known For?
Hanu Raghavapudi’s last film before Fauji was Sita Ramam (2022), a critically acclaimed period love story set during the 1965 India-Pakistan conflict, starring Dulquer Salmaan, Mrunal Thakur, and Rashmika Mandanna. Sita Ramam was intimate and lyrical in its approach — a war-era romance told through letters — and became one of the most beloved Telugu films of recent years, earning an IMDb score of 8.6.
Fauji represents a deliberate escalation from that template. The thematic territory is similar — a soldier, a period setting, an emotional core inside a conflict — but the scale is categorically different. Where Sita Ramam was a smaller-budget passion project, Fauji is a Pan-India tentpole with massive physical sets, a marquee lead in Prabhas, and Mythri Movie Makers, the banner behind the Pushpa franchise, backing it. Hanu Raghavapudi has moved from one of Tollywood’s most acclaimed small-scale period films directly to one of its most ambitious.
Where Does Fauji Fit in Prabhas’s Upcoming Film Lineup?
Fauji is the next major theatrical release in what is an exceptionally loaded pipeline for Prabhas. After Fauji, he is set to appear in Spirit, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga — the filmmaker behind Kabir Singh and Animal — followed by Kalki 2, the sequel to Kalki 2898 AD (2024). Each of these three projects sits at the top of Pan-India scale, and each represents a different genre register: a period war epic, a contemporary action drama, and a sci-fi mythological sequel.
For Prabhas, Fauji is also a meaningful tonal shift. His recent films have leaned into fantasy and futurism — Kalki 2898 AD, Adipurush, Salaar. A grounded historical war drama rooted in the freedom movement is a different kind of challenge, and Hanu Raghavapudi is a director whose track record suggests he knows how to make that kind of film land emotionally.