It has been a long wait for Prabhas fans to see the star again on the big screen. The reticent actor is front and centre in the new Saaho (2019) teaser where he and Shraddha Kapoor's character forge a bond together.
Unfortunately, it seems like a whole lot of unfriendly, menacing-looking characters played by Jackie Shroff, Chunky Pandey, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Mahesh Manjrekar are out to get him.
But what for? We have no idea as yet. Instead, Prabhas zooms across on a motorbike, dodging cars and trucks, and looks pensively across a cityscape like Bruce Wayne and/or Batman.
The teaser has a heavy Christopher Nolan hangover, with influences of The Dark Knight (2008) in the action scenes as well as the setup of Prabhas's character. However, it is all intriguing rather than off-putting as the thrills and action are executed well.
The teaser shows off the first-time pairing of Prabhas and Shraddha Kapoor. The duo fight off goons together with ease, but their wry exchange while they are being hunted down by assassins needed more punch.
With foreign locations and lots of high-energy sequences, Saaho shows plenty of promise. The trilingual (shot simultaneously in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu) seeks to make the star of the Baahubali films a crossover hero. Here's hoping it will.
Saaho, co-produced by Vamsi, Pramod, and Bhushan Kumar, is due to be released on Independence day, 15 August.