Bharat Ane Nenu to have a bigger release than Baahubali 2 in USA; 2000 premiere shows planned

Superstar Mahesh Babu’s Bharat Ane Nenu is one of the most anticipated big-ticket releases this summer. Slated to hit the screens on 20 April worldwide, the film will have its US premiere a day prior. On Thursday, the film’s US distributor Great India Films via a tweet announced that the project will have a whopping 2000 premiere shows on 19 April, making it the biggest release ever for a Telugu film in the US.

While S.S Rajamouli’s Baahubali 2 had a bigger release in terms of screen count, it should be noted that the film was released in three languages. Bharat Ane Nenu, however, will release only in Telugu.

Mahesh Babu in a still from Bharat Ane Nenu.

“Bharat Ane Nenu will have 2000 premiere shows on 19 April across USA. Shows will start from 3pm EST in all the locations,” read a tweet from Great India Films. This means that the Mahesh Babu-starrer is assured a monster opening and we can expect some new box-office records to be set. Considering Srimanthudu, the previous collaboration of Mahesh and director Koratala Siva, was a blockbuster, there’s excellent buzz for Bharat Ane Nenu everywhere.

The film will have its grand audio launch on 7 April in Hyderabad’s LB Stadium. Preparations are already underway for the lavish event which is said to be one-of-its-kind. It has been confirmed that Jr. NTR will be one of the chief guests of the event. There are rumours that S.S Rajamouli and Ram Charan are also likely to attend. “As of now, NTR has confirmed his participation. We are yet to get a nod from Ram Charan and Rajamouli,” a source told Firstpost.

The film’s trailer is expected to be unveiled at the audio launch. Last month, the makers released the teaser and it was received extremely well. Tipped to be a political-drama, the film will feature Mahesh in the role of a Chief Minister. The shooting was recently wrapped up with the completion of a song in Spain. Except for some patchwork, the entire talkie portion has been completed.

The film marks the Telugu debut of Kiara Advani. She was all praise for Mahesh in a recent interview. “It’s been an absolute pleasure. Mahesh is so grounded and super easy to work with. He doesn’t make you feel that he is a super-duper star. He is extremely professional and focused. We had a great time working together.” Tamil actor Sarath Kumar will also be seen playing a crucial role in the film, which has music by Devi Sri Prasad.

Bharat Ane Nenu was originally supposed to release on 27 April. The makers had to advance the release after superstar Rajinikanth’s Kaala was also announced to release on the same day. In order to avoid a box-office clash with Kaala, the release of Mahesh’s Bharat Ane Nenu was advanced by a week.