Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Prashanth Neel |
| Written by | Prashanth Neel |
| Dialogues by | Sandeep Reddy Bandla Hanumaan Choudary Dr. Suri |
| Based on | Ugramm by Prashanth Neel[1] |
| Produced by | Vijay Kiragandur |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Bhuvan Gowda |
| Edited by | Ujwal Kulkarni |
| Music by | Ravi Basrur |
Production company | Hombale Films |
| Distributed by | see below |
Release date | 22 December 2023 |
Running time | 177 minutes[2] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Budget | est. ₹270 crore |
The film was officially announced in December 2020 under the title Salaar, however, in July 2023, the official title was announced as Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire. Principal photography commenced in January 2021 in Telangana, later followed with a schedule in Hyderabad, which again was followed by another schedule near the latter location, which was again followed by a sporadic schedule in Italy and wrapped by early-December 2023. The film has music composed by Ravi Basrur, cinematography handled by Bhuvan Gowda and editing by Ujwal Kulkarni.
Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire was released worldwide on 22 December 2023 in standard and IMAX format. The film received mixed to mixed reviews from critics, with praise for Prabhas' presence, Prithviraj and Jagapathi's performance, Basrur's background score and Neel's directorial style while the execution, storytelling and screenplay received criticism.
Premise
In the city of Khansaar, Raja Mannar plans to make his son Vardharaja Mannar as his successor, but Raja Mannar's ministers and advisors plan a coup d'état to kill them by hiring armies from Russia and Serbia to attack Vardharaja and Khansaar. Vardharaja manages to escape from Khansar and meets his childhood friend Deva, who learns about this and sets out to make Vardharaja as the undisputed successor of Khansaar.[6]
Cast
- Prabhas as Devaratha "Deva" Raisani alias "Salaar", Vardha's childhood friend and the son of the 'Shouryagaana' tribe leader, Dhaara
- Prithviraj Sukumaran in a dual role as
- Vardharaja "Vardha" Mannar, Raja Mannar's son and Deva's childhood friend.
- Karthikeya Dev as young Vardharaja
- Siva Mannar, Raja Mannar's father
- Vardharaja "Vardha" Mannar, Raja Mannar's son and Deva's childhood friend.
- Shruti Hassan as Aadhya Krishnakanth, Deva's love interest
- Jagapathi Babu as Raja Mannar, Vardha's father and Siva's son
- Bobby Simha as Bhaarava, Raja Mannar's son-in-law and a Shouryagaana tribesman
- Tinnu Anand as Gaikwad alias "Baba"
- Ramana as Rinda, Vardha's loyalist
- Easwari Rao as Deva's mother
- Sriya Reddy as Radha Rama Mannar, Raja Mannar's daughter and Vardha's sister; Bhaarava's wife
- Ramachandra Raju as Rudra
- Madhu Guruswamy as Rudra's henchman
- Brahmaji as a Shouryagaana tribesman
- Shafi as a Shouryagaana tribesman
- Naveen Shankar as Pandit
- Prabodh as Vardha brother
- John Vijay as Ranga
- Devaraj
- Saptagiri as peon boy in school
- Prudhvi Raj
- Jhansi
- Mime Gopi as Bilal
Production
Development
In mid August 2020, it was reported that Prabhas had approached Prashanth Neel to direct his next film after watching Neel's debut film Ugramm (2014). The film was reported to begin production in 2022, as both were busy with the commitments at the time; the former was filming for Radhe Shyam (2022) and Adipurush (2023), and the latter was filming for KGF: Chapter 2 (2022).[7] In late November, Neel was reported to begin production for his next directorial ventures either with N. T. Rama Rao Jr. or Prabhas soon.[8] On 2 December, however, Hombale Films announced that Neel would collaborate with Prabhas for his next directorial venture, titled Salaar.
The film marks as Neel's maiden collaboration with Prabhas and maiden Tollywood film.[9] A muhuratam pooja ceremony was held on 15 January 2021 with the presence of the film's cast and crew in Hyderabad.[10] Ravi Basrur was roped in to compose the score, in his fourth consecutive film with Neel, while Bhuvan Gowda and Ujwal Kulkarni were approached to handle the cinematography and editing, respectively.[11] Initialed to be a one-part movie, on 8 July 2023, the production house announced that the film would be released in two-parts, with the first part titled with the tagline – Ceasefire.[12]
