New Delhi: Sandeep Reddy Vanga is synonymous with controversy. Now his upcoming film Spirit has become the reason for two fan groups locking horns on social media. The Spirit audio teaser that dropped Thursday declared Prabhas ‘India’s biggest superstar’. This did not sit well with Shah Rukh Khan fans.
Vanga gave a special treat to Prabhas’ fans on the Rebel Star’s birthday when he unveiled a ‘sound story’ from Spirit. This is the first official glimpse of the film.
The film has been the source of many rumours as well as controversies, with Deepika Padukone being dropped as the lead and being replaced by Tripti Dimri.
Amid the big reveal, what caught the attention of many fans was how Prabhas was introduced in the announcement. Instead of using the popular prefix associated with the actor, Rebel Star, the teaser declared Prabhas India’s biggest superstar.
The movie’s official page on X shared the caption, “He’s not one among the stars. He’s the sky itself.”
SRK fans are not the ones to take this ‘slight’ lying down.
“SRK is, was and will be India’s biggest superstar. A global phenomenon,” wrote one displeased fan while another said, “Prabhas is not even 10% of what SRK is and what he has achieved (sic).”
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Battle for the title
Prabhas’ The Raja Saab is set to release in January next year, and he has three other upcoming big budget ventures—Fauzi, Spirit and Salaar: Part 2-Shouryaanga Parvam. This has led to his fans claiming the title. His last film Kalki 2898 AD made more than Rs 1000 crore worldwide.
“I think Sandeep Reddy Vanga got it right. Prabhas is indeed India’s Biggest Superstar!” wrote one X user.
A Telugu movie portal tweeted, “A few people in Bombay may not get sleep tonight after looking at the poster” and added a wink emoji.
https://twitter.com/TheAakashavaani/status/1981416702949703759
The battle also moved over from SRK vs Prabhas to the actor being pitted against all of Bollywood/North Indian actors.
“None of the Bollywood heroes can beat his acting in #BahubaliTheEpic,” wrote one fan.
One X user went further and called him the ‘King of Indian cinema’..
“On 2015 July 10th. Prabhas Raju was declared as the “King of indian cinema” officially , and unanimously (sic),” wrote the user, referring to the release of SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Beginning, often considered the first ‘pan-India’ film.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)