Hari Hara Veera Mallu is an upcoming Indian Telugu-language period action adventure film[3] written and directed by Krish Jagarlamudi. Depicting the life of legendary outlaw Veera Mallu, the film stars Pawan Kalyan in the titular role alongside Nidhhi Agerwal, Arjun Rampal and Nargis Fakhri. The story is set in 17th century under the backdrop of Mughal Empire.

Hari Hara Veera Mallu
Promotional poster
Directed by	Krish Jagarlamudi
Written by	Krish Jagarlamudi
Dialogue by	Sai Madhav Burra
Produced by	A. Dayakar Rao A. M. Ratnam (presenter)
Starring	Pawan Kalyan Nidhhi Agerwal Arjun Rampal Nargis Fakhri
Cinematography	Gnana Shekar V. S.
Edited by	Praveen K. L.
Music by	M. M. Keeravani
Production company	Mega Surya Production
Release date	30 March 2023 (2023-03-30)
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Budget	₹150 crore[1][2]

The film began its production in September 2020 with filming taking place primarily in Hyderabad. The production experienced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to Kalyan's other film and political commitments. The film is planned to be released on 30 March 2023.

Premise

Set in the Mughal Era, outlaw Veera Mallu is tasked with the job of stealing the Koh-i-Noor diamond from the Mughals.[4][5]

Cast

• Pawan Kalyan as Veera Mallu
• Nidhhi Agerwal as Panchami
• Arjun Rampal as Aurangzeb
• Nargis Fakhri as Roshanara
• Adithya Menon[6]
• Pujita Ponnada as a dancer item number in a song[7]

Production

Development

In September 2019, producer A. M. Rathnam approached Pawan Kalyan, who semi-retired from films to pursue a career in politics, to star in a film directed by Krish Jagarlamudi.[8] Later in November, Jagarlamudi narrated Kalyan the script of a period film in which he would play a thief.[9] Kalyan accepted the film in principle and underwent a look test in January 2020.[10] The film was launched in the same month in Hyderabad at Rathnam's office. It was tentatively titled PSPK 27, intended to be Kalyan's 27th film as a lead actor.[11][12]

In September 2020, Jagarlamudi officially confirmed through his Twitter account that a period film has been in production, marking the first collaboration between Jagarlamudi and Kalyan.[13] The film is set in 17th century with the backdrop of Mughals and Qutb Shahis. Several titles including Virupaksha, Hara Hara Mahadeva and Hari Hara Veeramallu were considered.[14] In March 2021, the film's title is confirmed as Hari Hara Veera Mallu.[15]

Pre-production

The film is produced under Rathnam's production banner Mega Surya Production. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by M. M. Keeravani. Gnana Shekar V. S. is signed as the cinematographer.[16] Sai Madhav Burra is signed to write the film's dialogues.[17] Ben Lock, who has supervised the graphic work in films like Aquaman, Warcraft, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is in charge of the VFX of this film.[18][15]

Casting

The film marks the Telugu debut of Hindi film actor Arjun Rampal who will reportedly be playing the role of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.[14] Actress Nidhhi Agerwal is cast in the role of Panchami, opposite Kalyan.[1] In March 2021, Jacqueline Fernandez was signed to play a crucial role in the film.[4][5] However, Fernandez opted out of the project due to scheduling conflicts and she was replaced by Nargis Fakhri in December 2021. Fakhri plays Mughal empress Roshanara, Aurangzeb's sister.[19][20]

Filming

Historical monuments such as Charminar (left) and Red Fort (right) have been recreated for the film

Jagarlamudi completed a 15-day shooting schedule with Pawan Kalyan before it was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[21] The shooting is resumed in January 2021 in Hyderabad.[22] Rampal joined the production in February 2021.[3] The production has set up historical monuments Charminar, Red Fort and Machilipatnam port for the film.[15] The shoot was suspended in April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[23]

Shooting of the film experienced delays due to Kalyan's other film commitments, namely, Bheemla Nayak.[24] In December 2021, art director Rajeevan was replaced by Anand Sai, who began working on the film's sets.[25] A new schedule where a major part of the film would be shot was expected to begin in January 2022 but delayed.[26] Filming resumed in April 2022 with Kalyan joining the production.[27] Nearly 60 percent of the shoot was completed. Filming is scheduled to resume from mid October 2022.[28]

Release

Hari Hara Veera Mallu is planned to be released on 30 March 2023 in Telugu along with dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada.[29] The film was initially slated for worldwide release on 14 January 2022 coinciding with Sankranti.[30][31] However, in September 2021, the release date was rescheduled as 29 April 2022.[32] However, it was postponed due to delays caused by the pandemic and Kalyan's political commitments.[33] Later, in August 2022, A. M. Ratnam announced that the film is tentatively planned to release on 30 March 2023.[29]

References

External links

• Hari Hara Veera Mallu at IMDb