By Ayesha Khan 
Hyderabad, September 12: By mid-morning, long queues had already curled outside single screens and multiplexes across Telangana. Fans draped in cut-outs of Teja Sajja cheered as fireworks cracked in the background. The reason: “Mirai”, the much-hyped Telugu fantasy adventure, finally opened in theatres today. Directed by Karthik Gattamneni, the film has been marketed as a big leap in Telugu visual storytelling and judging by first reactions, it seems to have delivered enough spectacle to justify the noise, even if not everything lands perfectly.
A Film That Wants To Be More Than Just Fantasy
“Mirai” isn’t shy about its ambition. It reaches back into Indian mythology, stitches it together with futuristic visuals, and then layers on a classic good-versus-evil narrative. Early audiences, as reported by India Today, are particularly gushing about the interval sequence, which has already been hailed as a high point of the movie.
The visual effects are another talking point. On social media, viewers are drawing comparisons to Hollywood-level spectacle, a compliment Telugu filmmakers have been working hard to earn in the years since Baahubali and RRR reset expectations. Still, it isn’t flawless. A few critics, including those quoted by The Times of India, flagged weak spots in the screenplay moments where the story feels like it’s running to catch up with its own visuals. But this is also where the film’s intention shows: it’s not trying to be small or safe.
The Whisper That Became a Roar: Prabhas’ Cameo
For weeks, the chatter was about a so-called “Rebellious Surprise.” Fans guessed. YouTubers speculated. Posters were dissected. This morning, the answer walked into the light or, more accurately, spoke first.
Yes, Prabhas is in “Mirai.” As Indiatimes confirmed, he provides the opening voiceover and appears briefly as Lord Ram, though without a full reveal of his face. The choice is deliberate: Prabhas doesn’t overshadow the narrative, but his presence gives the film a mythic stamp. For an actor who has carried the Baahubali franchise and now headlines pan-India spectacles, even a fleeting appearance carries weight.
For Teja Sajja, who teased that surprise days before release, the payoff is significant. It turns what could have been just another Friday release into an event film.
Teja Sajja’s Growing Shoulders
This is also very much Teja Sajja’s movie. At 29, he has carved out a peculiar niche: young, fearless, willing to take risks with genres that others avoid. After dabbling in offbeat fantasy with Zombie Reddy and Adbhutham, Mirai feels like a career-defining test.
From early reviews, he seems to have passed. The Economic Times notes how he “steals the show,” particularly in moments where the visuals might have swallowed a lesser performer. That balance between a human performance and heavy CGI is never easy. For now, audiences are crediting him with making the fantasy believable.
A Technical Playground
Director Karthik Gattamneni, known first as a cinematographer, brings his eye to nearly every frame. The production leans on art direction, CGI landscapes, and fight choreography to build an immersive world. Telugu cinema has been trying to find its rhythm between mass spectacle and meaningful stories, and Mirai feels like one more experiment in that search.
The question, however, is longevity. Can spectacle alone keep people coming back in the third or fourth week? Or will the uneven storytelling weigh it down once the initial excitement fades? That is the gamble every fantasy film takes and only time, and the box office, will answer.
Already Talking About OTT
Interestingly, the conversation has already jumped to what happens after theatres. According to Indiatimes, Mirai will likely stream on JioHotstar by October 5, 2025. That’s barely three weeks after release a quick turnaround by old standards, but increasingly common in today’s post-pandemic market.
For producers, it’s a calculated move. Theatrical audiences deliver the first wave of revenue and buzz, while the OTT drop ensures the film reaches wider, non-Telugu audiences. For fans, it’s a double-edged sword: why rush to theatres if the film is just weeks away from a digital premiere? But for an event film like this, the producers seem confident that spectacle belongs first on the big screen.
What It Means For Telugu Cinema
The stakes around Mirai go beyond its opening weekend numbers. Telugu cinema has, in the last decade, carried Indian cinema’s global reputation. From Baahubali’s cultural footprint to RRR’s Oscar run, the industry has built a reputation for taking risks that Bollywood often hesitates to. Mirai adds a new experiment to that catalogue: a youthful fantasy epic that isn’t tied to pre-existing mythology or franchise formulas.
If it works, we may see a wave of younger stars anchoring high-budget fantasy adventures. If it stumbles, studios may retreat to safer action dramas and mythological retellings. Either way, it’s a marker of where the industry’s imagination is headed.
The First Day Mood
As the first screenings emptied out this afternoon, fans seemed satisfied. Loud cheers erupted during Prabhas’ voiceover. The interval fight scene drew claps. Teja Sajja walked out with more credibility than he walked in with.
But the weekend will tell the real story. If families turn up, if repeat audiences hold, if word-of-mouth softens the criticisms then Mirai will stand tall. If not, it will be remembered as a bold attempt, dazzling in parts, flawed in others, but still evidence of an industry that refuses to play it safe.
For now, Hyderabad is buzzing. And for a Friday afternoon in September, that is enough.
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- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
