Prabhas is the first Indian actor to have six ₹100+ crore opening films worldwide. He is also the only South Indian actor to have six films that crossed the ₹100 crore mark in the Hindi market. Prabhas is the first South Indian actor to receive a wax sculptureatMadame Tussaud's wax museum.[16]
Prabhas started his film career with Eeswar (2002). In 2003, he was the lead in Raghavendra. In 2004, he appeared in Varsham and Adavi Raamudu. He received his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his performance in the former. In 2005, he appeared in Chakram and in the film Chatrapathi, directed by S. S. Rajamouli, in which he portrays the role of a refugee, exploited by goons. It had a 100-day run in 54 centers.[24]Idlebrain.com stated that he had a unique style and macho charm in his screen presence.[25]Chatrapathi earned him his second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu.
Later, he starred in the dance drama Pournami (2006), the action film Yogi (2007) and the action drama Munna (2007). This was followed by the action-comedy Bujjigadu in 2008. In 2009, his two films were Billa and Ek Niranjan. Indiaglitz called Billa "stylish and visually rich".[26]Ek Niranjan earned him his third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu.
In 2010, he appeared in the romantic comedyDarling which received positive reviews upon release. The Times of India gave a 2.5 star rating explaining "Director Karunakaran extracts good performances from his actors, but can't come up with a refreshing plot. It looks like the director hasn't really come out of his Tholi Prema hangover as he dishes out yet another one-sided love saga but fails to come up with a valid and logical reason to make a GenZ lad to hold back his feelings for his lover until the last moment. However, he compensates it all, by adding loads of fun moments in the film and the screenplay does have its share of some touching moments."[27]
In 2011, he appeared in another romantic comedy Mr. Perfect. The review site GreatAndhra rated the film with three stars and noted "The film comes across as a clean, family entertainer and the intention of the makers must be appreciated.[28] His performance in the film earned him his fourth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu.
In 2012, Prabhas starred in Rebel, an action film directed by Raghava Lawrence. Sashidhar from The Times of India stated, "The film belongs to hard-core Prabhas fans as the movie is stylish and visually rich but not much in content".[29] Purnima Ranawat from NDTV said, "Rebel serves up fare for the mass audience. The film will be definitely liked by Prabhas' fans. Watch it for the dancing talent of Tamannaah Bhatia and action skills of Prabhas."[30] Radhika Rajamani from Rediff.com gave the movie 1.5 stars out of five and said, "Working with hardly any storyline, director Raghava Lawrence had made a film that is arduous to watch... Rebel is a movie for the masses and certainly not for the discerning audience."[31] He also rendered voice for a short cameo for the film Denikaina Ready (2012).[32]
In 2013, Prabhas starred in Mirchi. Jeevi of Idlebrain.com gave a rating of 3.25 out of 5, commenting that "First half of Mirchi is decent. Flashback episodes which occupies the lion's share of the second half is good. Climax could have been better. The plus points of the film are Prabhas, music and all-round orientation. On a whole, Mirchi has all the ingredients of a commercial potboiler".[33] Mahesh S Koneru gave his verdict that "At the box office, the film will turn in a good commercial performance", giving the film a score of 3.25/5.[34]Way2movies also gave a rating of 3.25/5, giving the verdict that "Prabhas rocks the show in this decent yet formulaic commercial entertainer".[35]SuperGoodMovies gave the film 3 stars in a scale of 5, reviewing that "Go and Watch Mirchi, It entertains both class and mass. It is a worth watch."[36] His performance in the film earned him his fifth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. He then made his Hindi cinema debut in 2014 in the special dance number "Punjabi Mast" from the film Action Jackson.[37]
Prabhas reprised his role in its sequel, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), with a budget of ₹250 crore ($36.87 million), it was the most expensive Indian film ever produced at the time of release.[42] It became the first Indian film ever to gross over ₹1,000 crore (US$120 million) worldwide in just ten days, first Indian film to gross ₹100 crore (US$12 million) and ₹200 crore (US$24 million) on its opening day, and highest-grossing Indian film at that point. The film eventually grossed over ₹1,810 crore (US$220 million) worldwide, making it second-highest-grossing Indian film worldwide to date and the highest-grossing film in India till date.[43][44][45] He won the SIIMA Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his performance in The Conclusion.[46] He increased his weight to 105 kg for Baahubali's character.[47] His performance in both film earned him his sixth and seventh nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. The success of Baahubali propelled Prabhas to become the first “Pan-Indian star”, receiving significant following across India.[48][49]
In 2019, Prabhas starred alongside Shraddha Kapoor in the Sujeeth-directed action thriller Saaho (2019).[50]Saaho opened to mixed reviews and grossed ₹130 crore (US$16 million) on its opening day, making Prabhas the only actor at that point of time to hold two ₹100 crore+ opening day grossers. The film eventually grossed over ₹419 crore (US$50 million) at the box-office.[51] The Telugu version of the film became an above average grosser, while the Hindi version was commercially successful.[52][53] After a gap of two years, Prabhas appeared in the period romance filmRadhe Shyam (2022) directed by Radha Krishna Kumar which received poor reviews from critics & proved to be a box office bomb.[54][55][56]
In 2023, Prabhas portrayed Lord Ram in the mythological action film Adipurush, an adaptation of Hindu epic the Ramayana.[57] It received highly negative response from critics as well as the audience and turned out to be another box-office bomb for the actor.[58]Adipurush opened to ₹140 crore (US$17 million), making it the third ₹100 crore opening grosser to Prabhas.[59]
Post the debacle of Adipurush, Prabhas starred in the Prashanth Neel directed action dramaSalaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire, the same year.[60] The film opened to positive reviews from critics, eventually grossing more than ₹705 crore (US$84 million) worldwide and proving to be a comeback film for him.[61] In 2024, he starred in Nag Ashwin's epic science fiction dystopian film Kalki 2898 AD.[62][63] Made on a ₹600 crore (US$72 million) production budget, it is the most expensive Indian film.[64]Kalki 2898 AD grossed ₹191 crore (US$23 million) worldwide on its opening day, which was the third highest first day gross for an Indian film, and making it the fifth and third consecutive ₹100 crore opener worldwide for Prabhas, a feat unheard of in Indian cinema.[65] Rahul Malhotra of Collider quotes that Kalki 2898 AD’s resounding opening cements "Prabhas as one of the biggest Indian movie stars of his generation".[66] After the release of Kalki 2898 AD,Nag Ashwin termed him "the biggest box-office star of this era".[67]
Humanitarian and social causes
Prabhas donated ₹4 crore (US$480,000) for the cause of combating against the COVID-19 pandemic. Of this, ₹3 crore was given to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund, while ₹50 lakh each went to the Chief Minister Relief Funds of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.[68] In 2020, Prabhas adopted 1,650 acres of Khazipally Reserve Forest near Hyderabad and donated ₹2 crore (US$240,000) for the development of the eco-park in the name of his late father Uppalapati Surya Narayana Raju.[69] Prabhas donated a total of ₹8lakh (US$9,600) to the Lions Club of Hyderabad Sadhuram Eye Hospital.[70] In 2021, he donated ₹1crore (US$120,000) to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) to help all those who have been affected due to the heavy rainfall in several parts of the state.[71]
Media image and other work
Prabhas in 2019
Prabhas is the first Indian actor ever to be referred to as “Pan-India” star.[49][72][73] Film journalists and analysts, such as Baradwaj Rangan and Vishal Menon, have labelled him as the first of the kind in Indian cinema.[14][74] Prabhas is considered as "a flagbearer of introducing the trend of Pan-India films in the nation".[75]
Prabhas is referred to in the media and by his fans as the "Rebel Star" and "Darling".[76][77] He was ranked second in Times'Most Desirable Men for the year 2017,[78] and twelfth in 2018.[79] He was then added to the Forever Desirable list of Hyderabad Times in 2019.[80][81] He was the most searched actor on Google in Karnataka, for the year 2019.[82] He is the only actor from South Indian cinema to feature in the magazine Eastern Eye's 2019 listing of the 10 Sexiest Asian Men.[83][84] He was also featured in the GQ in their listing of the most influential young Indians of 2017.[85]
Prabhas, generally does not endorse brands or appear in advertisements.[86]However, in 2015, he was signed on by Mahindra & Mahindra as brand ambassador for the new Mahindra TUV300 car, making his debut in the television commercial arena.[87]News 18 reported that he rejected brand endorsements worth ₹150 crore (US$18 million) in 2020.[88]
