Sandeep Reddy Vanga drops first look of Spirit starring Prabhas & Triptii Dimri; fans praise the edgy, intense poster as 2026 begins.

Filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga celebrated the start of the new year with a stunning revelation that caused a stir on social media. The director released the first look poster for Spirit, his highly anticipated movie starring Prabhas and Triptii Dimri, just before midnight.

Following his now-familiar pattern, which started with his hit song Animal, Vanga once again decided to make a big statement on New Year’s Eve. Similar to that Ranbir Kapoor-led success, Spirit’s opening picture is bursting with raw passion, igniting parallels and conjecture on the internet.

Prabhas is shown in the arresting picture from behind, shirtless, with obvious wounds and bruises all over his body. His wrists, shoulders, and back are covered in thick bandages that allude to a violent history and a tale of psychological and physical wounds. Many fans were immediately reminded of Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal character by his long hair, thick beard, and rough demeanor; this similarity only served to reinforce the Vanga signature stamp.

In a subtly potent moment, Triptii Dimri emerges next to him, lighting Prabhas’s cigarette as he is holding a tumbler of booze in his other hand. The image conveys tension, closeness, and struggle in a single frame while being simple and packed with subtext.

Prabhas only captioned the image, “Here’s the first poster of #Spirit.”
“Rebel Roar” and the director’s signature are the fans’ reaction.

The reaction was overwhelming and happened right away.

“It’s the return of the long hair!” wrote one enthusiast. This film also appears to be very edgy.

It was written by another, “Powerful Director And Actor Darling.”

A third said, “2026 began with Rebel roar.”

The sentiment was encapsulated by another, who said, “This is called Sandeep Reddy’s film.”

What We Understand About Spirit

Sandeep Reddy Vanga is the author, editor, and director of Spirit. Bhushan Kumar, Pranay Reddy Vanga, Krishan Kumar, and Prabhakar Reddy Vanga are the producers. The multilingual release of the ambitious project is planned for Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean markets.

On Prabhas’s 46th birthday last year, Vanga released the audio teaser for the movie in five Indian languages, introducing viewers to the soundtrack. Officially, the film will be released in 2026.
Behind-the-Scenes Progress

Spirit also made headlines last year after Deepika Padukone left the film, allegedly due to disagreements during working hours. Later, Vanga addressed the incident and criticized PR tactics in a scathing social media post without naming her. Triptii Dimri then joined the movie, which was the director’s second project with her following Animal (2023).

Spirit has already established itself as one of the most anticipated movies of the new year, and if this initial glimpse is any guide, viewers are in for a blast.