Mumbai: Sagar Pictures Entertainment has unveiled the first teaser poster of Shrimad Bhagavatam Part I: Vishnurata, the opening instalment of its ambitious seven-part theatrical saga based on the revered Bhagavatam Mahapurana.
The film marks a major cinematic undertaking from the production house behind the landmark television epic Ramayan (1987). With Lord Shri Krishna at the centre of the narrative, the seven-part saga aims to bring the spiritual world of the Bhagavatam to the big screen on an expansive scale.
Vishnurata sets the tone for seven-part saga
The title Vishnurata refers to “the one protected by Vishnu” and establishes the spiritual foundation of the first film.
The newly unveiled poster offers an evocative introduction to the film’s world, with divine protection at the heart of its imagery. The makers have indicated that the film will seek to combine the spiritual and visual traditions associated with the Bhagavatam with the scale and technical possibilities of contemporary cinema.
The Bhagavatam Mahapurana is one of India’s revered sacred texts and contains an expansive universe centred on devotion, dharma and the relationship between the human and the divine. Lord Shri Krishna, regarded as the Supreme Divine in the tradition, occupies a central place in the text.
Six years spent understanding the text
Vishnurata is being co-directed by brothers Akash Sagar Chopra and Amrit Sagar Chopra, grandsons of the late filmmaker and producer Ramanand Sagar.
Speaking about the project, the co-directors said they grew up with the stories of the Bhagavatam and viewed them not merely as spiritual knowledge but as part of India’s civilisational memory.
They also acknowledged the legacy of their grandfather, whose Ramayan became a defining television experience for an entire generation. However, the filmmakers stressed that their intention is not to recreate his work.
According to the directors, every generation needs to discover its own cinematic language, shaped by the medium and creative possibilities available to it.
The brothers revealed that they spent the last six years trying to understand the Bhagavatam before deciding that they were ready to adapt it for cinema.
That process led them to conclude that the first instalment could not be approached as a conventional film. The scale and imagination of the source material, they said, required a much larger cinematic canvas.
Bringing sacred imagery to the big screen
A major aspect of Vishnurata will be its visual treatment of the characters and stories associated with the Bhagavatam.
The directors said that divine figures have been represented through paintings, sculptures and sacred imagery across centuries. Their intention is to remain connected to the visual representations that generations of Indians have grown up seeing and recognising.
Rather than reinventing those images simply for the sake of novelty, the filmmakers want to bring them to life using the realism, authenticity and scale possible through contemporary cinema.
The project is therefore being developed with an emphasis on expansive production design and a distinct visual grammar that can accommodate the scale of the ancient text.
Ramanand Sagar’s legacy continues in a new medium
The project also carries a strong connection to the legacy of Ramanand Sagar, whose Ramayan became one of the most influential television adaptations of an Indian epic.
For Akash Sagar Chopra and Amrit Sagar Chopra, however, Shrimad Bhagavatam represents an opportunity to explore the source material through a new cinematic approach rather than replicate an earlier television format.
The filmmakers have described the project as an attempt to allow audiences to experience the Bhagavata Mahapurana on what they hope will be the largest cinematic canvas possible.
The seven-part structure is expected to provide the makers with the scope required to explore the vast narrative and spiritual dimensions of the text over multiple films.
Film in final stages of production
Shrimad Bhagavatam Part I: Vishnurata is currently in the final stages of production.
The makers are bringing together large-scale production design, filmmaking techniques and visual storytelling to create what they describe as a new cinematic world.
The project is being presented by Sagar Pictures Entertainment and is planned as a theatrical release rather than a television or streaming adaptation.
The first teaser poster provides the first official visual indication of the film as the production moves towards completion.
Worldwide release planned for 2027
Shrimad Bhagavatam Part I: Vishnurata is scheduled to release worldwide in theatres in 2027.
The film will be released across premium formats, with the makers aiming to give the ancient spiritual epic an expansive theatrical presentation.
As the first chapter of a planned seven-part saga, Vishnurata is set to establish the visual and narrative foundation for Sagar Pictures Entertainment’s ambitious cinematic interpretation of the Bhagavatam Mahapurana.