HanuMan Director Prasanth Varma Says He Is 'Not Waiting For Stars Anymore': Even If Tom Cruise...

In the world of cinema, the conversation over what makes a film truly great – the director, the actor, or the story - is debatable. Prasanth Varma, the director behind the success of HanuMan has a say on this where he firmly asserts that having a bigger star in his film isn't the ultimate priority.

Prasanth reveals wasting time for big stars

In a recent conversation with RJ Siddharth Kanan, Varma expressed regret over the time he has wasted in the past waiting for big stars and said that he won't repeat that mistake. Now, he has set strict deadlines for himself and even Hollywood icon Tom Cruise couldn't alter his approach.

"I'm not against working with stars. But it often takes time. I spent a lot of it waiting for a few stars. It wasn't productive. So, I've decided to set deadlines. Even if Tom Cruise comes after my deadline, I'll move forward with who I have. I'm here to tell stories, not just wait for star power," Varma shared.

While revealing that he has approached stars like Ram Charan, Allu Arjun, and Jr NTR, Varma explained the difficulties in getting them on board due to their tight schedules. "Many don't say 'no' directly, but the message is usually clear. Initially, I was confused when someone praised my story and then disappeared. Now, I understand the pressures they face."

Despite the challenges, Varma's movie HanuMan featuring Teja Sajja became a massive success and crossed the Rs 200 crore mark at the global box office.

Varma reveals the plot of Jai Hanuman - a sequel to HanuMan

In an exclusive conversation with Republic, Varma revealed the plot of Jai Hanuman and described it as a tale about a promise made by Hanumanji to Prabhu Sriram during the Ramayana. He told us, “Prabhu Sriram asked Hanumanji for a promise that was supposed to be fulfilled and Hanumanji had been waiting to do that for so many thousands of years to fulfil that promise. And that time is here!”

The sequel explores Hanumanji emerging from years of meditation to fulfil this promise, leading to an epic war. Varma promises an entirely new cinematic world for Jai Hanuman positioning it as one of the biggest films to emerge from India.