The film was officially announced in January 2020 with principal photography commencing in September 2020. The film was predominantly shot in Hyderabad in several legs.[5] The film experienced several delays due to the pandemic and Kalyan's political commitments. Initial portions of the film were directed by Jagarlamudi, while the latter portions were helmed by Krishna under former’s supervision. The film has music composed by M. M. Keeravani.
Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 – Sword vs Spirit is scheduled to release worldwide on 28 March 2025 in theatres in IMAX formats.[6][7]
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.[11] Later in November, Jagarlamudi narrated Kalyan the script of a period film in which he would play a thief.[12] Kalyan accepted the film in principle and underwent a look test in January 2020.[13] 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.[14][15]
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.[16] 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.[17] In March 2021, the film's title is confirmed as Hari Hara Veera Mallu.[18]
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 – Sword vs Spirit.[19] The remaining portions of the film and post-production will be handled by A. M. Rathnam's son, A. M. Jyothi Krishna, due to the highly delayed production owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kalyan's political commitments, and Krish's directorial commitments.[20]
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 emperorAurangzeb.[17] 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.[24] Deol joined the production in December 2022.[25]
Actress Nidhhi Agerwal is cast in the role of Panchami, opposite Kalyan.[2] In March 2021, Jacqueline Fernandez was signed to play a crucial role in the film.[8][9] 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.[26][27]
Filming
Historical monuments such as Charminar (left) and Red Fort (right) have been recreated for the film
In September 2020, Jagarlamudi completed a 15-day shooting schedule with Kalyan before it was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[28] The shooting resumed in January 2021 in Hyderabad.[29] Rampal joined the production in February 2021.[4] The production set up production sets that mirrored the historical monuments of Charminar, Red Fort, and Machilipatnam Port for the film.[18] The shoot was suspended again in April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[30]
Shooting of the film experienced delays due to Kalyan's other film commitments, namely, Bheemla Nayak.[31] In December 2021, art director Rajeevan was replaced by Anand Sai, who began working on the film's sets.[32] A new schedule where a major part of the film would be shot, was expected to begin in January 2022, but was delayed.[33] Filming resumed in April 2022 with Kalyan joining the production.[34] Nearly 60 percent of the shoot was completed by September 2022.[35]
Following his success campaign in 2024 election, Kalyan resumed filming in September 2024 in a set built in Vijayawada.[40] The last schedule of the shoot was commenced on 30 November 2024 in Vijayawada.
Release
Theatrical
Hari Hara Veera Mallu was initially slated for worldwide release on 14 January 2022 coinciding with Sankranti.[41][42] However, in September 2021, the release date was pushed to 29 April 2022.[5] It was again postponed due to delays by the pandemic and Kalyan's political commitments.[43] Later, in August 2022, A. M. Ratnam announced that the film was tentatively planned for release on 30 March 2023.[44] However, it was delayed again as Kalyan remained unavailable due to his political commitments.[45]
^Hari refers to Lord Vishnu, Hara refers to Lord Shiva, Veera means brave or heroic and Mallu is a common name that refers to the Telugu-speaking people.
