Power Star Pawan Kalyan’s first pan-India movie, Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Part 1 – Sword vs Spirit, failed to make an impact theatrically despite huge expectations. Initially directed by Krishna Jagarlamudi and later completed by AM Jyothi Krishna, the historical action drama received poor reviews from both critics and audiences.
Now, in a quick turnaround, the film has started streaming on Amazon Prime Video just four weeks after its theatrical release. Viewers can watch it in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi with English subtitles.
What’s drawing attention, however, is the fact that the OTT version is significantly different from the theatrical cut. Around 15 minutes of footage has been removed for a tighter narrative. The much-criticized horse-riding sequences and arrow-aiming VFX have been polished, while certain scenes were trimmed.
The most striking change is in the climax. Originally, the film ended with Bobby Deol’s character saying, “Aandhi Vachesindhi,” followed by a cyclone confrontation with Pawan Kalyan. Later, this was altered for theatrical reprints. On OTT, the cyclone fight has been completely removed, and the film now concludes right after the “Asura Hananam” song, followed by the announcement of Part 2.
Interestingly, this means Hari Hara Veera Mallu has seen three different endings across its versions, with the OTT runtime now clocking in at 2 hours and 33 minutes.
The film features Nidhhi Agerwal, Sunil, Raghu Babu, Sachin Khedekar, Vennela Kishore, Kabir Duhan Singh, and the late Kota Srinivasa Rao in his final on-screen appearance. Presented by AM Rathnam, the movie is produced by A Dayakar Rao, with music composed by MM Keeravaani.
Whether this fine-tuned OTT version will find better acceptance among home audiences remains to be seen.
