One Day With Prabhas Was All Subodh Bhave Needed

Subodh Bhave is stepping into Telugu cinema with Fauzi, but the moment people are talking about is a single day on set. His co-star that day was Prabhas, and the Marathi actor came away with a warm story to tell.

A meeting that started with Adipurush

In a conversation with Variety India, Bhave said he first met Prabhas before Fauzi was even on the horizon. Director Om Raut introduced them on the sets of Adipurush. Raut had earlier worked with Bhave on the Marathi film Lokmanya: Ek Yugpurush, so the connection was already in place.

When they finally shared the frame for Fauzi, it was for exactly one shooting day. Bhave filmed a scene with both Prabhas and Anupam Kher, and he described the opportunity as special.

No superstar airs on set

Bhave’s takeaway was warmth. He called Prabhas “a fantastic human being” and said the Baahubali star made the other actors comfortable instead of carrying his fame onto the floor. That is a detail Hindi film fans will notice: star behaviour often shapes how a big set functions, and in this case the report is glowing.

Fauzi has a bigger storm to settle

The praise arrives while the film itself is under scrutiny. A teaser scene set in Berlin on May 29, 1942, shows Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose discussing a fictional Indian spy, played by Prabhas, with Adolf Hitler. Netaji’s grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose criticised the fictionalised portrayal, called it a crime and demanded an unconditional public apology from the makers. So far, no apology has come.

That controversy is part of why the release calendar changed. Fauzi was first planned for December 3, 2026, but is now scheduled to arrive in theatres on March 19, 2027.

Here is a quick look at the film:

• Directed by Hanu Raghavapudi, known for Sita Ramam
• Also features Imanvi, Mithun Chakraborty, Bhanu Chander and Jaya Prada
• Subodh Bhave plays Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

For fans of pan-India period cinema, Fauzi is becoming a test case: can a film sell its star warmth while its historical framing is still being challenged? The answer will arrive in cinemas in March.

Source: The Times of India