The Nexus Entertainment office in Hyderabad functioned less like a film studio and more like a military command center.
Covering the entire length of the primary conference room was a massive digital calendar. The screen was divided into strict geographic zones: Los Angeles, New York, London, and Tokyo. Color-coded scheduling blocks shifted continuously across the timeline.
Feroz stood in front of the board, holding a cold cup of coffee. He rubbed his tired eyes, watching a logistics coordinator update a block of interviews for the upcoming week.
"Push the Variety Australia interview back by two hours," Feroz instructed, pointing at the screen. "Prabhas has a personal commitment in Hyderabad that morning. We cannot overlap the flights. And confirm the DGA theater booking in Los Angeles for the twelfth."
A publicist sitting at the long table typed rapidly on her laptop. "The DGA theater is confirmed. Paramount is handling the invitations for the Academy animation branch. But the publicists in LA are asking for a new press kit. The nominations are about to be announced next week, so they want to shift from the preliminary 'For Your Consideration' campaign directly into the final voting phase."
A secondary monitor on the wall displayed the 70-day global theatrical run report. While the movie was still drawing crowds in tier-two Indian cities, the primary domestic box office window was concluding at a staggering 2,850 crore rupees. Because Siddanth had capped single-screen tickets at 150 rupees, the revenue was driven by volume rather than premium pricing. The film recorded over sixteen crore footfalls across the country, officially breaking the all-time Indian footfall record previously held by Sholay.
The overseas markets mirrored the domestic momentum. Bolstered by the 40,000-screen release in China, the dedicated English dub by Paramount, and strong traction in Japan, the international collections added an estimated 380 million dollars to the ledger. The global gross comfortably crossed the 5,200-crore mark. Becoming the Highest Grossing Indian film of all time.
The financial chapter was essentially written. Now, it was time for the prestige.
Feroz set his coffee cup down. He placed both hands on the table, leaning forward to address the entire marketing team.
"We are not selling a mythology lesson," Feroz stated, his voice calm but absolute. "If we market this as an Indian religious epic, they will categorize it as a niche foreign novelty. We are selling a world-class animated film. We sell the emotional core. We sell the brotherly bond, the tragedy of the exile, and the technical execution. Let the visuals do the talking. The culture will speak for itself once they sit in the theater."
The publicist nodded, deleting the old press kit draft. "Understood. I will shift the focus to the Aether Engine and the narrative structure."
"Good," Feroz said, turning back to the board. "Check the critic screening schedules for London. We need the BAFTA members to see the lighting physics on the big screen."
The road to the Academy Awards was an exhausting, meticulous process of continuous visibility. Generating box office numbers was different from generating critical prestige. The latter required getting the right people into the dark rooms to watch the film without distractions.
Over the previous weeks, exclusive private screenings had commenced across the global film capitals.
In Los Angeles, members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences walked into a private screening room on Wilshire Boulevard. There were no flashing cameras or red carpets outside. It was a quiet Tuesday evening. Directors, animators, and sound engineers took their seats, holding small notebooks and bottled water.
The lights dimmed.
Throughout the two-hour runtime, the reactions were subtle. There were no standing ovations in the middle of the film. Instead, veteran animators leaned forward in their plush seats, squinting at the screen to observe the cloth simulation on Rama's saffron robes as the wind blew through the Dandakaranya forest.
A prominent lighting director sitting in the back row tapped his pen against his chin, watching the sunrise over Ayodhya. He noticed the way the volumetric light filtered through the morning mist, casting soft, scientifically accurate shadows across the sandstone pillars.
During the royal court sequences in Lanka, sound designers closed their eyes. They listened to the seamless transition from suffocating silence into the heavy, thundering brass instruments composed by Anirudh Ravichander.
When the credits finally rolled, the applause was polite and measured, typical of an industry crowd. But as the members gathered in the lobby afterward, the quiet conversations revealed the true impact.
"The facial micro-expressions," a veteran character rigger murmured to a colleague near the coat check. "They didn't over-animate the eyes. It felt like a live-action performance."
"I am trying to figure out the rendering software," another director noted, checking his phone. "The water physics in the river sequence didn't look like standard fluid dynamics. It maintained a painterly texture while moving dynamically. I need to read up on this Aether Engine."
Similar scenes played out in New York and at the BAFTA Piccadilly venue in London. Critics praised the deliberate pacing. They noted how the story allowed the environments to breathe, contrasting the towering, aggressive golden spikes of Lanka with the serene, grounded architecture of Ayodhya. International audiences, unfamiliar with the ancient Indian epic, found themselves easily following the universal themes of duty and sacrifice.
To capitalize on this growing technical curiosity, Feroz authorized the release of a "Behind the Scenes" documentary series on YouTube.
The first video, titled Creating Ayodhya, showcased the environmental artists sketching ancient Vedic architecture. It highlighted the research team studying classical temple carvings to ensure the proportions of the pillars and the floral motifs were historically accurate rather than generic fantasy designs.
The second video broke down the motion capture and voice recording process. It featured Sushant Singh Rajput wearing a dotted tracking headband, standing in the booth. The video displayed the raw audio waveform syncing in real-time with the digital model of Lakshmana. Viewers watched the software map Sushant's intense, focused gaze directly onto the animated character.
A dedicated episode focused on the musical score. Footage showed Anirudh Ravichander standing in a massive studio in Budapest, conducting a seventy-piece live orchestra. The camera then cut to a small, intimate recording room in Chennai, where a group of elderly Sanskrit scholars meticulously verified the pronunciation of the ancient mantras used in the background tracks.
The documentary series gained massive traction among film students and technology enthusiasts globally. Universities with animation programs began using the videos as case studies in real-time rendering and cultural adaptation.
While the technical team dominated the academic discussions, the primary cast handled the grueling, frontline promotional tour.
Prabhas found himself navigating the international media circuit through a series of satellite interviews. Sitting in a quiet studio in Hyderabad, he stared into a camera lens connected to journalists in Australia and the United States.
During an interview with IGN, the journalist smiled through the monitor.
"Prabhas, you are playing a character who is revered as a deity by over a billion people. How do you even begin to prepare for a role with that much pressure?"
Prabhas rubbed the back of his neck, offering his signature, slightly awkward smile.
"It was very scary," Prabhas admitted softly, his deep voice carrying genuine humility. "When Siddanth first told me the idea, I actually asked him if he was sure. You do not want to make a mistake with a story like this. But Siddanth and the animation team made it very easy for me. They told me not to play a god. They told me to just play a son who loves his father, and a brother who loves his family. The animators did all the hard work to make him look divine. I just read the lines."
In a later interview with Entertainment Tonight, the host asked about the recording process.
"Was it difficult acting in a soundproof room without your co-stars?" the host inquired.
"It was strange at first," Prabhas chuckled. "But Sushant and Gopichand were usually in the studio on the same days. We would record our lines and then eat lunch together. The hardest part was keeping a straight face. There is a very emotional scene in the second part where—"
Prabhas suddenly stopped talking. His eyes widened slightly. He covered his mouth with his hand, letting out a loud, booming laugh.
"I almost told you the story for the next movie," Prabhas wheezed, shaking his head. "Siddanth will actually kill me if I spoil Part Two. You have to wait for the next one to see it."
Sushant Singh Rajput took a different approach to his press tour. His natural curiosity and love for science bled into every conversation.
Sitting down for a Wired Autocomplete Interview in Mumbai, Sushant peeled back a sticker on a white board.
"'How did Sushant Singh Rajput prepare for Lakshmana?'" Sushant read aloud. He tossed the sticker aside. "I read different versions of the Ramayana. I tried to understand the psychology of extreme loyalty. Lakshmana is essentially a soldier whose only mission is to protect his brother. I stopped reacting to things emotionally during the recording weeks and just tried to stay vigilant."
During a video call with Collider, the interviewer asked about the technology.
"The facial capture looks incredible," the interviewer noted. "Did wearing the tracking equipment distract your performance?"
Sushant leaned forward, instantly energized by the technical question. "Not at all. The rig was lightweight. Actually, the focal length of the capturing camera was fascinating. I was looking at the telemetry data on the monitors during our breaks."
Sushant pointed at the screen. "Is your camera recording in 4K right now? What sensor are you using for this stream? Because the latency is incredibly low for an international call."
The Collider interviewer laughed, completely derailed from her planned questions. "We are using a standard broadcast setup, Sushant. You are interviewing me now."
"I like knowing how things work," Sushant grinned unapologetically.
Gopichand, playing the towering antagonist, provided a calm, grounding presence to the promotional circuit. He appeared on several prominent regional and national platforms.
Sitting across from Baradwaj Rangan for a Galatta Plus interview, Gopichand looked relaxed in a simple shirt.
"How difficult was it to portray Ravana," Rangan observed. "Your portrayal was chillingly quiet. Was that a deliberate choice to modernize the character?"
"It wasn't about modernizing him," Gopichand replied, his voice deep and measured. "It was about respecting the original text. Ravana was an emperor. He was a master of the Veena and a brilliant scholar. A man with that much knowledge and power does not need to shout to be intimidating. He was written as a king first, and a villain later. Siddanth was very clear about that from the first reading."
The promotional campaign also featured a rare, solo sit-down interview with the screenplay writer, V. Vijayendra Prasad.
Sitting in his quiet office surrounded by books, the veteran writer spoke to a journalist from a major literary magazine.
"Adapting Valmiki's Ramayana for a global, modern audience seems like an impossible task," the journalist noted. "Did you feel the need to update or modernize Lord Rama's character to make him relatable to today's youth?"
Vijayendra Prasad smiled a wise, patient smile.
"Every generation deserves its own telling of the epic," the writer explained softly. "But Valmiki's Rama needs no updating. Compassion, duty, and sacrifice are eternal concepts. They do not expire. I must praise Siddanth for this. As a young, modern billionaire, you would expect him to want a fast-paced, aggressive superhero story. But he never once asked me to modernize the core of the characters. He only asked me to write the dialogue so clearly that a child sitting in Tokyo or New York could understand the pain of a father losing a son. We translated the emotion, not the morality."
As the individual interviews circulated online, the studio released a few group interaction videos to show the chemistry of the cast.
During a fun, rapid-fire segment on a popular YouTube channel, the host asked the trio a simple question.
"Who took the most retakes in the dubbing booth?"
Sushant instantly pointed at Prabhas. Gopichand slowly raised his hand and also pointed at Prabhas.
Prabhas laughed, covering his face. "The mythological Telugu words were very long! I kept twisting my tongue."
"He would record a perfect, emotional line," Gopichand added, keeping his face deadpan. "And then he would forget the last word and just say 'Darling' into the microphone. It ruined the take."
"Sushant never messed up," Prabhas said, pointing back at his co-star. "He would read the script once and memorize the whole page. It was annoying."
The banter felt natural. The cast clearly enjoyed each other's company, and the lack of forced PR drama made the interviews highly watchable. The global audience slowly began discovering the depth of Indian mythology, not as a religious text, but as a cinematic epic.
While Feroz orchestrated the complex, multi-continent Oscar campaign from his war room in Mumbai, Siddanth Deva was thousands of miles away, operating in a different reality.
The Indian cricket team was in Australia.
The tour of Australia dominated the sporting calendar.
The Test series began in Adelaide in early December. The Australian pitches were hard, fast, and relentlessly bouncy. The Australian pace attack, led by Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, tested the Indian batting lineup with a barrage of short-pitched bowling.
Cheteshwar Pujara proved to be the ultimate anchor. He batted for hours, dulling the new ball and wearing down the fast bowlers. Siddanth contributed with crucial spells of fast bowling, taking vital wickets in the middle sessions. India won the first match in a tight, nail-biting finish.
The second Test in Perth saw the Australians bounce back. The pitch offered severe, terrifying pace. The Indian lower order crumbled against the hostile bowling, and Australia secured a comfortable victory, leveling the series.
The Boxing Day Test in Melbourne became the turning point. Jasprit Bumrah bowled a spell of absolute magic, mixing slow yorkers with searing bouncers. He claimed a six-wicket haul, breaking the back of the Australian batting order. Siddanth anchored the first innings, scoring a patient, flawless century that batted the hosts completely out of the game. India won the match, taking an unassailable lead.
The final Test in Sydney in early January was interrupted by heavy rain. The match ended in a dull draw, but the result was secondary to the historical achievement.
India won the series 2-1. They became the very first Asian team in history to win a Test series on Australian soil.
The celebrations on the Sydney outfield were joyous but brief. The players hugged, lifted the trophy, and posed for the cameras. There were long, dramatic speeches in the dressing room.
The One Day International series followed closely. The format shift required a change in tempo. MS Dhoni returned to guide the middle order. India won the first match, Australia took the second, and India chased down a tricky target in the final match to win the series 2-1.
The tour concluded with a short T20 series. The rain continued to play spoilsport. One match was completely washed out. The teams traded victories in the remaining two games, resulting in a 1-1 series draw by January 18th.
Between these intense matches, the reality of the touring squad unfolded in airport lounges and hotel lobbies.
Sitting in the terminal waiting for a delayed flight to Brisbane, Rohit Sharma opened a packet of roasted almonds. He offered the bag to Siddanth, who was sitting in the adjacent chair reading a book.
"Take some," Rohit offered. "The flight is delayed by another hour."
Siddanth took a few almonds. "Thanks."
Rohit chewed his snack, looking at his phone. "My daughter saw the trailer for your movie again yesterday. She really likes Hanuman."
"He is a good character," Siddanth nodded.
"She wants a toy," Rohit said casually. He turned his head and looked directly at Siddanth. "Producer saab. When are you sending the free merchandise to my house?"
Siddanth laughed softly. "I will tell the logistics team to send a care package to Mumbai."
"Make sure it has the big bow and arrow set too," Rohit added shamelessly.
The banter kept the team relaxed during the long, exhausting transit hours. They ate dinners in crowded hotel restaurants, discussed pitch conditions, and occasionally teased Siddanth about his growing cinematic empire. It was a comfortable routine.
The Australian tour finally concluded. The team packed their heavy kitbags, exhausted from the month-long campaign. They were scheduled to fly directly to New Zealand for a short limited-overs series.
The squad gathered in the departure hall of the Sydney airport. Players dragged their luggage toward the designated boarding gate for the Auckland flight.
Siddanth did not follow them.
He stood near a junction in the terminal. He carried one medium-sized rolling suitcase and a single black backpack. He held his passport and a boarding pass in his hand.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered.
"Hello," Siddanth said.
"The schedule is ready," Feroz's voice came through the line, sounding energized despite the early hour in India. "The promotional campaign is officially entering the final phase. We secured the primary interview slot for the final voting push. The studio executives in LA are waiting."
"I have the itinerary," Siddanth confirmed.
"Have a safe flight, Sid," Feroz said. "See you in Los Angeles."
"See you there."
Siddanth ended the call. He slipped the phone back into his pocket. He looked toward his teammates. Virat and Rohit were walking toward the New Zealand gate, talking to the coaching staff.
Siddanth turned in the opposite direction. He adjusted the strap of his backpack and walked smoothly toward his designated gate, blending into the quiet stream of international passengers heading toward the flight to Los Angeles.
Match Statistics - Siddanth Deva (Australia Tour)
Test Series (India won 2-1)
1st Test (Adelaide):
Runs: 45 & 88
Wickets: 3/40 & 2/35
2nd Test (Perth):
Runs: 74 & 30*
Wickets: 2/55 & 1/42
3rd Test (Melbourne):
Runs: 102 & DNB
Wickets: 1/30 & 2/25
4th Test (Sydney):
Runs: 55* & DNB
Wickets: 2/48 & DNB
ODI Series (India won 2-1)
1st ODI (Sydney):
Runs: 65
Wickets: 2/45
2nd ODI (Adelaide):
Runs: 104*
Wickets: 1/38
3rd ODI (Melbourne):
Runs: 42*
Wickets: 3/30
T20I Series (Series Drawn 1-1)
1st T20I (Brisbane):
Runs: 35
Wickets: 2/24
2nd T20I (Melbourne):
Runs: DNB (Match Washed Out)
Wickets: DNB
3rd T20I (Sydney):
Runs: 68*
Wickets: 1/20