When the first teaser of Prabhas’ new pre‑independence drama Fauzi dropped onto social media, it felt less like a marketing push and more like a historical misstep. The clip, timed to celebrate the actor’s 47th birthday, shows a fictional soldier—Prabhak—standing beside a caricatured Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who, in a bizarre twist, seems to praise the hero while pointing a finger at Adolf Hitler. The scene, drenched in period garb and a jarring voice‑over, has already turned Twitter threads into a battlefield of outrage.
Dr. Chandra Kumar Bose, the freedom fighter’s grandnephew, took to X with a scathing rebuke, calling the mix of fact and fiction a crime. He urged director Hanu Raghavapudi and Mythri Movie Makers to pull the teaser, release a new one, and respect the legacy of India’s freedom fighter. His tweet, laced with the hashtag #Prabhas, echoed a broader sentiment among history buffs who fear the film could distort public memory.
On the other side, Prabhas’s die‑hard supporters argue the project is a “fictionalised story based on a real character,” and the teaser is meant to pay homage rather than misrepresent. They point to lines like, “Abey o firangi, main tera khoon lunga aur azaadi bhi chheen kar,” which echo Netaji’s famous slogan, suggesting the film is weaving historical inspiration into its narrative. Critics, however, say that even a stylised tribute can mislead audiences if the line between myth and reality blurs.
With a release date pencilled for March 19, 2027, the film’s producers will have to decide whether to heed the backlash or double down. A revised teaser could smooth the storm, but any delay might dent box‑office expectations. Only time will tell if Fauzi can navigate the murky waters of historical drama without losing its star power.