Epic Avatars on the Rise as Mahesh Babu, Prabhas Join Divine League

Tollywood is witnessing a renewed fascination with divine and epic characters, with Mahesh Babu and Prabhas emerging as the latest stars to embrace spiritually powerful roles on screen.

Superstar Mahesh Babu has entered the elite “divine club” by portraying Lord Ram in his upcoming film Varanasi, directed by S. S. Rajamouli. Reflecting on Mahesh’s transformation, Rajamouli said, “On the first day, when Mahesh walked in Lord Rama’s get-up for the photoshoot, I had goosebumps. Mahesh has the charm of Krishna, but the calmness of Rama. Still, I was confident. I even set that photo as my wallpaper and then removed it so that no one would see it.”

Earlier, Prabhas stepped into a similar space by portraying Lord Ram in Adipurush. He continues to explore spiritually rooted and larger-than-life characters, including a role associated with Lord Shiva in Kannappa. His versatility was also evident in his portrayal of Karna in Kalki 2898 AD, underlining his willingness to experiment across genres.

Director Dolly, known for socio-fantasy Gopala Gopala, believes this is a celebratory phase for divine storytelling in cinema. He said, “Despite his stardom, Pawan Kalyan agreed to portray Lord Krishna in Gopala Gopala because he appreciated the refinements we made to his character in the Telugu adaptation. Unlike in the Hindi original Oh My God, we made certain cultural adjustments that resonated with Telugu audiences.” He added, “We pray to Lord Krishna, Shiva, and Hanuman at home, yet when they are depicted in films, we call it mythology—which is unfair. Ramayana and Mahabharata are not myths; they are historical epics that took place in the real world.”

Taking a dig at Western superheroes, he remarked, “Characters like Spider-Man and Superman are purely fictional, whereas our gods are real and continue to bless us.”

Writer Gopi Mohan highlighted that Telugu cinema has a rich legacy in portraying divine and epic characters. He noted that stars like the legendary NTR and ANR, followed by Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Jr NTR, have all explored such roles and proven their mettle, placing Tollywood ahead in this space.

With top stars continuing to take on divine avatars, the “divine club” in Tollywood is expanding, blending devotion, storytelling, and cinematic ambition on a grand scale, he concludes.