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Hari Hara Veera Mallu
2025 Indian film by Krish Jagarlamudi From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 – Sword vs Spirit[a] is a 2025 Indian Telugu-language historical action-adventure film[5] directed by Krish Jagarlamudi and A. M. Jyothi Krishna from a screenplay by Jagarlamudi and Sai Madhav Burra. The film stars Pawan Kalyan in the titular role, alongside Bobby Deol, Nidhhi Agerwal and Sathyaraj in other prominent roles. It is set in the 17th century Mughal Empire and follows Veera Mallu, a celebrated warrior who is given the mission to recover the Koh-i-Noor to rescue a city from Mughal soldiers.
The film was officially announced in January 2020 with principal photography commencing in September 2020. The film was predominantly shot in Hyderabad.[6] The film experienced several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Kalyan's political commitments, concluding only in May 2025. Initial portions of the film were directed by Jagarlamudi, while the latter portions were helmed by Krishna under former’s supervision. The film's music was composed by M. M. Keeravani.
The film was released worldwide on 24 July 2025 in standard and EPIQ formats[7][8] and opened to negative reviews.[9][10] While the action sequences and performances were praised, the visual effects and tonal inconsistencies received widespread criticism.[11][12] It became a box office bomb.
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Plot
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The story of Hari Hara Veera Mallu is set in 17th-century Mughal India, a period of immense political upheaval and power struggles. The film centers on the titular character, Hari Hara Veera Mallu (played by Pawan Kalyan), a legendary heroic warrior with a knack for robbing from the rich to help the poor—a true Robin Hood figure.
Veera Mallu's path crosses with a formidable gang leader known as Dora. Initially, their relationship is one of rivals, but they eventually form an unlikely alliance to steal a priceless collection of diamonds.
Meanwhile, the Mughal Empire is in a state of chaos. The ruthless prince Aurangzeb will stop at nothing to secure the throne. He orchestrates the murder of his own brother to eliminate a rival for power and publicly executes three other key figures by beheading them, sending a clear message of his tyrannical authority.
Back in his own world, Veera Mallu falls in love with Panchami, a beautiful and cunning woman. However, their romance is short-lived. After successfully acquiring the diamonds, Panchami betrays Veera Mallu, steals the gems, and leaves him for dead.
Veera Mallu is captured and brought before Qutb Shah, the Sultan of Golconda. Shah, recognizing Veera Mallu's immense skills, offers him a chance at redemption: retrieve the legendary Koh-i-Noor diamond from the clutches of the tyrannical Aurangzeb.
Veera Mallu embarks on this dangerous mission with a small group of allies. As they journey toward Aurangzeb's court, one of his companions reveals a crucial piece of information to the rest of the group: Veera Mallu's true intention is not just to steal the diamond, but to confront and defeat Aurangzeb himself, fulfilling a much larger destiny. The film builds to a dramatic climax where Veera Mallu and Aurangzeb engage in a brutal, final confrontation, just as a powerful tornado descends upon them. The battle concludes with Veera Mallu hanging on tight to Aurangzeb as they are both caught in the storm hinting at a violent confrontation.
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Cast
- Pawan Kalyan as Hari Hara Veera Mallu
- Bobby Deol as Aurangzeb
- Nidhhi Agerwal as Panchami
- Sathyaraj as Rajaguru
- Vikramjeet Virk as Mirza Khan
- Ayyappa P. Sharma as Abdullah
- Dalip Tahil as Abul Hasan Qutb Shah
- Sachin Khedekar as Chinna Dora
- Raghu Babu as Munimanikhyam
- Subbaraju as Subbanna
- Kabir Bedi as Shahjahan
- Kabir Duhan Singh as Gulfam Khan
- Nassar as Vissanna
- Sunil as Abbanna
- Tanikella Bharani as Shiva
- Kota Srinivasa Rao as Pedda Dora
- Makarand Deshpande as Meera
- Anupam Kher as Dinesh
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Production
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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.[13] Later in November, Jagarlamudi narrated Kalyan the script of a period film in which he would play a thief.[14] Kalyan accepted the film in principle and underwent a look test in January 2020.[15] 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.[16]
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.[17] 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.[18] In March 2021, the film's title is confirmed as Hari Hara Veera Mallu.[19]
Initially marketed as a single film, in May 2024, the production house announced that the film would be released in two parts, with the first part titled as Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1.[20] The remaining portions of the film and post-production were handled by A. M. Rathnam's son, A. M. Jyothi Krishna, due to the highly delayed production owing to the pandemic, Kalyan's political commitments, and Krish's directorial commitments.[21]
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.[22] Sai Madhav Burra is signed to write the film's dialogues.[23] 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.[24][19]
Casting
The film was set to mark the Telugu debut of Hindi film actor Arjun Rampal, who was supposed to play the role of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.[18] However, he was replaced by Bobby Deol as Rampal dropped out of the film due to other commitments and production delays owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.[25] Deol joined the production in December 2022.[26]
Actress Nidhhi Agerwal is cast in the role of Panchami, opposite Kalyan.[27] In March 2021, Jacqueline Fernandez was signed to play a crucial role in the film.[28][29] However, she opted out of the project due to scheduling conflicts and she was replaced by Nargis Fakhri in December 2021. Fakhri plays the Mughal empress Roshanara, Aurangzeb's sister.[30][31]
Filming
In September 2020, Jagarlamudi completed a 15-day shooting schedule with Kalyan before it was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[32] The shooting resumed in January 2021 in Hyderabad.[33] Rampal joined the production in February 2021.[5] The production set up sets that mirrored the historical monuments of Charminar, Red Fort, and Machilipatnam Port for the film.[19] The shoot was suspended again in April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[34]
Shooting of the film experienced delays due to Kalyan's other film commitments, namely, Bheemla Nayak.[35] In December 2021, art director Rajeevan was replaced by Anand Sai, who began working on the film's sets.[36] A new schedule where a major part of the film would be shot, was expected to begin in January 2022, but was delayed.[37] Filming resumed in April 2022 with Kalyan joining the production.[38] Nearly 60 per cent of the shoot was completed by September 2022.[39]
Filming resumed in the last week of October 2022.[40] A large set was erected at Ramoji Film City for this purpose, with a crew of over 900 people.[41] However the shooting was subsequently delayed due to Kalyan's political commitments and 2024 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election.[42][43]
Following his success campaign in 2024 election, Kalyan resumed filming in September 2024 in a set built in Vijayawada.[44] The last schedule of the shoot was commenced on 30 November 2024 in Vijayawada.[45] In April 2025, reports indicated that key scenes for Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 2 were filmed during an outdoor schedule in Mumbai.[46] Although official confirmation was pending, social media posts from costume designers suggested the completion of this schedule.[47] This led to speculation regarding the release timeline of Part 1, which is reportedly in its final post-production stages including dubbing and VFX work.[48] The entire filming was wrapped up by May 2025, almost 5 years later.[49]
Post production
On 29 May 2025, Kalyan wrapped up the entire dubbing of his part in four hours.[50] Ben Lock served as the visual effects supervisor of the film.[51]
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Music
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The music of the film was composed by M. M. Keeravani in his fifth collaboration with Krish Jagarlamudi after Vedam (2010), NTR: Kathanayakudu (2019), NTR: Mahanayakudu (2019), and Konda Polam (2021); first collaboration with Pawan Kalyan.[52] The audio rights of the film were purchased by Tips.[53]
The first single titled "Maata Vinaali" was released on 17 January 2025.[54] The second single titled "Kollagottinadhiro" was released on 24 February 2025.[55] The third single titled "Asura Hananam" was released on 21 May 2025.[56] The fourth single titled "Taara Taara" was released on 28 May 2025.[57]
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Marketing
The first-look poster of Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 was unveiled on 10 April 2022 to coincide with the celebration of Rama Navami, showcasing Pawan Kalyan in a fierce warrior avatar and generating considerable buzz on social media.[58]
On 2 May 2024, a teaser titled Sword vs Spirit was released, highlighting the grand scale, period production design, and a powerful score composed by M. M. Keeravani.[59] In May 2025, the makers confirmed the film's theatrical release date as 12 June 2025.[60] In June 2025, it was reported that Pawan Kalyan had returned ₹11 crore of his remuneration to support the film's completion and would lead promotional activities in person.[61] The film's trailer was released on 3 July 2025,[62] the film's trailer features voice overs by Arjun Das in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi.[63]
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Release
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Theatrical
Hari Hara Veera Mallu was initially slated for worldwide release on 14 January 2022 coinciding with Sankranti.[64][65] However, in September 2021, the release date was pushed to 29 April 2022.[6] It was again postponed due to delays by the pandemic and Kalyan's political commitments.[66] It was further delayed again as Kalyan remained unavailable due to his political commitments.[67] The film was later scheduled for release on 28 March 2025 but was postponed as many portions of the shoot were incomplete.[68][69]
The film was scheduled to release on 9 May 2025, but was postponed again. It was later scheduled to release on 12 June 2025. The production team issued another update, clarifying that some post-production work regarding the visual effects and color grading was still pending, resulting in another postponement.[70][71] Finally, after multiple delays the film was released worldwide on 24 July 2025 in standard and EPIQ formats. It was released in original Telugu alongside dubbed versions of Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages.[72]
After the film received criticism upon release for the VFX, it was updated with an edited version removing multiple scenes including 10-15 minutes of footage from the climax.[73]
Distribution
The film's distribution rights in Nizam and Kerala were acquired by Mythri Movie Makers and Dulquer Salmaan's Wayfarer Films respectively.[74] The Tamil Nadu distribution rights of the film were acquired by Shakthi Film Factory.[75] The North India distribution rights of the film acquired by AA Films.[citation needed]
Home media
The post-theatrical streaming rights of the film were acquired by Amazon Prime Video.[76]
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Reception
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Swaroop Kodur, writing for The Indian Express, gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5 and felt that it let off the opportunity to create a fascinating folk hero, and with lacklustre visual effects and underwhelming action sequences, it ended up being a misguided revisionist project.[11] T Maruthi Acharya from India Today gave the film 2 stars out of 5, praising Pawan Kalyan for anchoring the film with conviction, while feeling the narrative lost steam and the film was held back by the weak VFX and execution, despite its visual grandeur and striking moments.[77]
Jaya Dwivedie from India TV gave the film 3 stars out of 5, praising the action sequences and feeling that Pawan Kalyan's performance was the film's strongest aspect and M. M. Keeravani's music was the soul, but felt that Bobby Deol's Aurangzeb was a stereotypical villain and the VFX, while impressive in most scenes, was weak at times, affecting the immersion.[78] Sangeetha Devi Dundoo from The Hindu praised the action sequences and music, but criticized the VFX and writing, remarking that a second part would need far sharper writing and more assured filmmaking.[79]
Neeshita Nyayapati from Hindustan Times gave the film 2.5 stars out of 5, feeling that while the film had potential to be a fun story about a street smart outlaw, the VFX and writing were a massive letdown.[80] Similarly, Paul Nicodemus from The Times of India gave the film 2.5 stars out of 5, and was critical of the VFX and storytelling, while praising the background score, production design and costumes.[81]
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Notes
- Hari refers to Lord Vishnu, Hara refers to Lord Shiva, Veera means brave or heroic and Mallu is a Telugu surname referring to the titular character.
References
External links
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