Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire is a 2023 Indian Telugu-language epic dystopian action film directed by Prashanth Neel and produced by Vijay Kiragandur under Hombale Films. The film stars Prabhas and Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead roles alongside an essemble cast Shruti Haasan, Jagapathi Babu, Bobby Simha, Sriya Reddy, Ramachandra Raju, John Vijay, Easwari Rao, Tinnu Anand, Devaraj, Brahmaji and Mime Gopi. In the fictional dystopian city-state of Khansaar, where constitutional monarchy still exists, the film follows the friendship between Deva (Prabhas), the exiled prince of Khansaar, and Varadha (Prithviraj), the current prince of Khansaar. When a coup d'état is planned by his father's ministers and his relatives, Varadha enlists Deva's help to become Khansaar's undisputed ruler.
The film's initial storyline was pitched from Neel's 2014 Kannada-language debut film Ugramm and is the maiden part of a two-part film. It was officially announced in December 2020 under the title Salaar, however, in July 2023, its first installment was titled as Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire. Principal photography commenced in January 2021, and occurred sporadically in several legs over nearly three years, before wrapping in late 2023. Filming locations included Telangana, Italy and Budapest. Production difficulties, ranging from the pandemic, reshoots and VFX delays, postponed Salaars release date several times until being announced to be released on 22 December 2023. The music is composed by Ravi Basrur, cinematography handled by Bhuvan Gowda and editing by Ujwal Kulkarni.
Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire was theatrically released on 22 December 2023, coinciding with Christmas. The film received positive reviews from critics. It was a commercial success, earning an estimated crore on a 270 crore budget making it the highest-grossing Telugu film of 2023, third highest-grossing Telugu film of all time, highest grossing A-rated Telugu film of all time and the nineteenth highest-grossing Indian film of all time at the end of its theatrical run.
Plot In 1985, Deva and Vardha Raja "Vardha" Mannar are close companions in Khansaar, a powerful city-state ruled by Vardha's father, Raja Mannar. After Raja Mannar orders the extermination of the Shouryaanga tribe, a mob attacks Deva and his mother. Vardha intervenes by surrendering a valuable territory to the mob's leader in exchange for their safety and secretly helps them flee Khansaar. Before leaving, Deva promises to return whenever Vardha calls upon him.
In 2017, Aadhya, the daughter of NRI Krishnakanth, travels from New York City to Varanasi to immerse her mother's ashes. Her arrival attracts the attention of Obulamma, a loyal aide to Vardha's step-sister Radha Rama, who orders her abduction. Krishnakanth seeks help from Bilal, who hides Aadhya at the residence of his friend Deva in Tinsukia, Assam, where she poses as a teacher at a school run by Deva's mother. When armed men locate and attempt to abduct her, Deva, despite his mother's longstanding insistence that he avoid violence, intervenes and defeats them. Later, Deva attacks a convoy bearing the emblem of Khansaar to rescue Aadhya and Bilal, drawing the attention of Vardha, Obulamma, and Radha Rama. Radha Rama reveals that she orchestrated the events to provoke a conflict between Deva and Vardha, as opposing Khansaar'''s emblem is punishable by death. Bilal subsequently recounts the history of Khansaar and the bond between Deva and Vardha to Aadhya.
In 1127, dacoits from the Mannar, Shouryaanga, and Ghaniyaar tribes established Khansaar. The three tribes jointly protected the territory for centuries, including during British rule. Following Indian independence in 1947, Siva Mannar, Raja Mannar's father, declared Khansaar an autonomous state and erased it from official maps. To maintain order, he divided the territory into 101 provinces governed by Kapus under the supervision of eight Doras, while establishing the Nibandhana, the constitution of Khansaar. After Siva Mannar's death in 1985, Raja Mannar assassinated Dhaara Raisaar, the Shouryaanga heir to the throne, and ordered the massacre of the Shouryaanga tribe to consolidate power.
In 2010, Bhaarava, the husband of Radha Rama, persuades Raja Mannar to reconcile with his exiled sons, Vardha and Baachi. Raja Mannar reinstates Vardha by forcing the Dora Ranga to relinquish his position before leaving Khansaar and appointing Radha Rama as regent. To prevent conflict over succession, Radha Rama proposes a ceasefire, though the Doras insist that the matter be settled through a formal vote under the Nibandhana. An election is scheduled for nine days later, prompting rival factions to recruit mercenaries in anticipation of war once the voting concludes.
Vardha summons Deva, who arrives in Khansaar and remains loyal despite repeated humiliation. Tensions escalate when Vishnu, the son of Dora Naarang, attempts to molest a tribal girl, leading Deva to kill him. Deva, Vardha, and their allies are imprisoned, while Rudra Mannar, Vardha's half-brother, manipulates Naarang into targeting Vardha during the trial. When Naarang refuses to relent, Deva kills him.
On the day of the vote, Raja Mannar returns and supports the ceasefire, but Vardha casts the deciding vote against it. Deva and Vardha escape execution and kill Ranga and his followers. Meanwhile, Raja Mannar reveals to Radha Rama that the Shouryaanga tribe survived the massacre and that Bhaarava is secretly a member of the tribe conspiring against the Mannars. After capturing Bhaarava's associate Thiru, they learn that Deva is the son of Dhaara Raisaar and the rightful heir to Khansaar, while Vardha had sacrificed his territory years earlier to protect Deva's family.
As rival factions unite against the Mannars and Vardha's allies discover Deva's true identity, Vardha publicly declares Deva as his Salaar.
Cast
Production Development
In November 2020, Neel was reported to begin production for his next directorial ventures with either N. T. Rama Rao Jr. or Prabhas soon. On 2 December, Hombale Films announced that Neel would collaborate with Prabhas next, on a Telugu-language film (Neel's first) titled Salaar.
A muhurtam pooja ceremony was held on 15 January 2021 with the presence of the film's cast and crew in Hyderabad. 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. Initialed to be a one-part movie, on 8 July 2023, the production house announced that Salaar would be released in two parts, with the first subtitled Ceasefire.
Casting
On casting Prabhas, Neel stated "I was drawn to his innocence. Prabhas exudes more innocence compared to most other actors. To draw out this innocence and show it on screen will be fantastic.", while Prabhas stated that his character is "extremely violent", something that he "haven't really done before". The latter was reported to get more fit and muscular for his role. He was further reported to play a dual role, which was later denied.
On 28 January 2021, Prabhas wished Shruti Haasan a happy birthday, and welcomed her to the Salaar team. She played the role of Aadhya and received a remuneration consisting . Prabhas, during a press meet for Radhe Shyam in Kochi, revealed that Prithviraj Sukumaran would play other lead role alongside Prabhas in the film thus, marking Prithviraj's return to Telugu cinema after Police Police (2010).
Madhu Guruswamy, Jagapathi Babu, Easwari Rao, Sriya Reddy, Tinnu Anand, Bobby Simha, Ramachandra Raju, Saptagiri were cast to play prominent roles. Mime Gopi and John Vijay's presence in the promotional trailer revealed their inclusion.
Filming
Principal photography commenced on 27 January 2021 at a set in Godavarikhani, a town in Telangana. Haasan joined the production two days later. An action sequence featuring Prabhas was reportedly filmed. A day later, an on-set picture of Prabhas was leaked to social media and went viral, prompting tight security to be arranged during filming. On 8 February, cinematographer Bhuvan Gowda announced that the first leg had concluded.
The second leg commenced on 3 August 2021 in Hyderabad, with the filming of a scene featuring Prabhas and Shruti. Since the filmmakers wanted Salaar to look "next level at any given angle", it became the first Indian film shot via Dark Centric Theme technology. By 12 August, the second leg concluded.
Shortly after the release of Prabhas' film Radhe Shyam in March 2022, filming was halted, mainly due to him getting a knee surgery done in Spain and later joining the sets of Kalki 2898 AD. By May 2022, 30 percent of filming was reportedly completed. The third leg was reported to begin on 24 May, but commenced instead on 18 May. The studio shared a behind-the-scenes video that day, which showcased the crew setting up a set for an action sequence. The fourth leg commenced on 28 June in Hyderabad. The schedule reportedly had a huge set erected for an action sequence, which featured Prabhas, Shruti and various fighters, stunt-choreographed by the duo Anbariv. It was reported that the schedule would be a lengthy one. In December, producer Vijay Kiragandur revealed that 85 percent of filming was finished.
Filming was reported to be in the final leg in early February 2023 and set to conclude by the end of the month. In this leg, the crew shot a 20-minute-long action sequence in the middle of the sea, at a cost of around . Haasan joined the sets on 10 February, after being busy for the post-production and release works for Veera Simha Reddy and Waltair Veerayya. She completed filming her portions by 23 February. In mid March, production moved to Matera, Italy; filming would then continue in Naples, then Rome and Budapest. The initial release date of 28 September 2023 was postponed due to reshoots in mid-September. It was reported that after watching the final edit, Neel felt that there was room for improvement. In late October, a "big war sequence" was filmed, featuring over 750 vehicles, including jeeps, tanks and trunks. Principal photography wrapped after a total of 114 working days over nearly three years.
Post-production In December 2022, Vijay Kiragandur stated that visual effects work would take around six months. By August 2023, post-production work was moved to Basroor village in Karnataka, where composer Ravi Basrur's studio is located, reportedly to ensure security and prevent leaks. Shruti Haasan began dubbing her portions in mid-August 2023, and did so in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi. She completed her dubbing work by early September. Prithviraj Sukumaran would do likewise by 10 December.
Approximately 600 VFX shots were still pending in mid-September which, along with the reshoots, caused the postponement of the original 28 September release date.
Soundtrack
The music and background score is composed by Ravi Basrur, in his fourth collaboration with Neel after Ugramm, KGF: Chapter 1 and KGF: Chapter 2. The audio rights were acquired by Divo. The first single titled "Sooreede" was released on 13 December 2023. Three more singles—"Prathi Gaadhalo", "Sound of Salaar" and "Vinaraa"—followed on 21, 22 and 26 December respectively.. The entire soundtrack album was released on 31 December 2023.
Marketing When the teaser of Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire was released on 6 July 2023, it had more than 83 million views in 24 hours, breaking the record for an Indian film. The first trailer of the film was released on 1 December 2023. The second trailer was released on 18 December 2023.
Release