EPIC Pre-Release Event: Vijay Deverakonda Backs Anand, Sandeep Vanga as Emotional Speeches Steal the Show
Vijay Deverakonda, Anand Deverakonda and Sandeep Reddy Vanga turned the EPIC pre-release event into an emotional celebration as the team also addressed the film’s bold relationship themes.
Vijay Deverakonda, Anand Deverakonda, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Aditya Hasan and the EPIC First Semester team at the film’s pre-release event
Table of Contents (16 sections)
The EPIC—First Semester pre-release event in Hyderabad became much more than a routine promotional gathering ahead of the film’s theatrical release.
With Vijay Deverakonda and filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga joining Anand Deverakonda, Vaishnavi Chaitanya, director Aditya Hasan and the film’s team, the evening mixed cinema, family memories, career struggles and an unusually candid discussion about the direction in which Telugu films are moving.
For Anand, it became an opportunity to acknowledge something actors do not always openly discuss: the support system behind their success.
For Vijay, it was a chance to speak proudly about his younger brother’s transformation and publicly back filmmakers and collaborators he considers close to him.
Sandeep Reddy Vanga went further back in time, remembering Anand from the Arjun Reddy days — when he was still working in IT in the United States rather than standing on a Telugu film stage as a leading actor.
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Table of Contents
What happened at the EPIC pre-release event?
Vijay Deverakonda gets emotional about Anand
Anand credits Vijay for changing his family’s life
Sandeep Reddy Vanga remembers Anand before films
Vijay publicly backs Vanga, Aditya Hasan and his close collaborators
Vijay’s ‘Operation TFI’ prediction
Vijay’s concerns about Telugu film production
Why EPIC’s bold relationship scenes are being discussed
What Aditya Hasan says about the story
Vaishnavi Chaitanya responds to the bold-content discussion
What makes EPIC different from #90s and Baby?
Release date and what happens next
Key takeaway
Vijay Deverakonda Looks Back at Anand’s Journey
One of the evening’s most personal moments came when Vijay spoke about his younger brother.
Today, Anand Deverakonda has films such as Dorasaani, Middle Class Melodies and Baby behind him. Vijay, however, remembered a very different Anand.
He recalled childhood moments when the two brothers were deeply attached. According to Vijay’s account at the event, when he was first being left at a hostel in Puttaparthi, Anand cried because he wanted to remain with him. He also recalled Anand hiding near his classroom door when they were children.
Those memories provided the emotional backdrop to Vijay’s larger point: the younger brother he once worried about has gradually built a professional identity of his own.
Vijay also remembered Anand’s uncertainty when he went to the United States and contrasted it with where he stands today — as an actor headlining a theatrical release.
Rather than presenting Anand’s career as an overnight rise, Vijay spoke of it as a gradual process of finding confidence and creating his own path.
Anand Deverakonda: ‘I Didn’t Do Everything Alone’
Anand’s own speech approached the family story from the opposite direction.
Instead of claiming that he had achieved everything independently, Anand openly acknowledged the advantages and support he received from his family.
He recalled leaving for the United States for higher studies in 2014 at a time when the family had financial pressures and education involved substantial loans.
His comments then turned to Vijay.
Anand credited his elder brother’s eventual success with fundamentally changing the financial circumstances and trajectory of their family. His message was particularly notable because he rejected the convenient celebrity narrative of saying that he had succeeded entirely without help.
His argument was effectively that his journey cannot be separated from the people who stood behind him.
That made the brothers’ speeches complement each other: Vijay spoke about watching Anand grow; Anand spoke about how Vijay’s success helped create the circumstances in which he could grow.
Sandeep Reddy Vanga Remembers Anand Before He Became an Actor
Sandeep Reddy Vanga added another layer to the story by taking the audience back to the Arjun Reddy period.
During promotions for Arjun Reddy in the United States, Vanga remembered Anand spending time with Vijay and the team.
At that stage, Anand was working in IT.
Vanga recalled him arriving in formal clothes and spending long hours with the group discussing films, songs and promotional material. He also remembered Anand helping with practical things such as arranging food and looking after people around him.
What stayed with Vanga was Anand’s curiosity about cinema.
At the time, he knew him primarily as Vijay’s brother who had an IT career. Later, when Anand entered films with Dorasaani, that earlier interest suddenly made more sense.
Vanga went on to praise Anand’s choices across films, including Middle Class Melodies and Baby, saying his work over the last several years had created confidence in him as a performer.
He also praised Vaishnavi Chaitanya’s performance in Baby, Aditya Hasan’s work on EPIC and Hesham Abdul Wahab’s music.
Vijay Deverakonda Publicly Backs Sandeep Vanga and Aditya Hasan
Another widely discussed part of Vijay’s speech was his public expression of loyalty towards filmmakers and collaborators with whom he shares close professional relationships.
Vijay grouped Aditya Hasan, Naga Vamsi, Tharun Bhascker and Sandeep Reddy Vanga among people he considers his own and said he would stand behind them.
His connection with Vanga, of course, carries particular significance.
Arjun Reddy became a defining film in Vijay’s career and established Vanga as one of Telugu cinema’s most closely watched filmmakers.
At the EPIC event, Vijay’s comments therefore sounded less like a conventional guest appearance and more like an expression of support for a creative circle he believes is contributing strongly to Telugu cinema.
Fact note: Reports available at the time of publication support Vijay’s public backing of Vanga, Aditya Hasan and other collaborators. A circulating claim that Vijay presented Vanga with a specific physical “gift” at this event could not be independently verified and is not stated as fact here.
Vijay Calls the Coming Film Season ‘Operation TFI’
Vijay also turned his attention from his brother’s film to the wider Telugu industry.
He enthusiastically referred to the upcoming run of Telugu releases as “Operation TFI,” predicting a strong period at the box office.
Among the upcoming titles he mentioned were Anand’s EPIC, Srikanth Odela’s The Paradise, Rahul Sankrityan’s Ranabaali, Rashmika Mandanna’s The Girlfriend?, upcoming projects discussed at the event, Tharun Bhascker’s next project, Fauji and other major Telugu releases.
His confidence was unmistakable.
However, those comments are best understood as Vijay’s prediction and enthusiasm, not as a guarantee that every forthcoming film will become a commercial success.
Vijay Also Raises a Serious Question About How Telugu Films Are Made
His speech was not entirely celebratory.
Vijay argued that the ambition of Telugu filmmakers, actors and writers has grown considerably but suggested that production efficiency and technical capacity have not always expanded at the same speed.
According to coverage of his remarks, he estimated that only around 20–30% of people working in certain parts of the ecosystem are sufficiently skilled and argued that better training and new talent from film schools could help the industry become more efficient.
Those figures represent Vijay’s assessment, rather than independently established industry statistics.
But the broader issue he raised is relevant: as Telugu films become larger and technically more demanding, production infrastructure and trained crews also need to scale.
It was an unusual industry-focused element in what could otherwise have been a straightforward promotional speech.
Why Everyone Is Talking About EPIC’s ‘Bold’ Content
The other major conversation surrounding EPIC—First Semester has little to do with its celebrity guests.
It concerns the film itself.
The trailer indicated that Anand and Vaishnavi’s characters share an adult romantic relationship, including physical intimacy.
That surprised some viewers because Aditya Hasan became widely known through #90s—A Middle Class Biopic, a nostalgic family drama.
Producer Naga Vamsi has pushed back against the assumption that Aditya should therefore make exactly the same kind of content again.
He argued that a character who was mischievous as a child would naturally change after growing up and moving abroad for higher education.
According to Naga Vamsi, EPIC also deals with conversations that commercial Telugu romances have rarely explored directly — including what a couple talks about after intimacy and discussions around menstruation.
The point, according to the filmmakers, is not to insert provocative scenes simply for attention but to depict the relationship between two adults with a level of openness appropriate to their story.
Vaishnavi Chaitanya Clarifies the Live-In Relationship
Vaishnavi Chaitanya has also addressed the discussion directly.
She confirmed that the story includes a live-in relationship involving the central characters while they are abroad.
She acknowledged that EPIC is not as “clean” in the conventional family-entertainment sense as #90s, because the subject and age of the characters are different.
At the same time, she said Aditya had shown only what the story required and had been conscious of boundaries while filming the relationship.
The film has reportedly received an A certificate, meaning admission in theatres is restricted to adults. That classification is more useful for audiences than broad promotional descriptions such as “family-friendly,” and viewers should make their decision accordingly.
Aditya Hasan Explains Why EPIC Is Different From #90s
For Aditya, the difference is built into the story.
EPIC—First Semester is connected to the world of #90s—A Middle Class Biopic, but it follows a different phase of life.
The filmmaker says the story takes the younger brother from that world into adulthood and abroad for education.
A young man travels from Hyderabad to the UK, meets a woman, and enters a relationship with her. Their different personalities, experiences abroad and the question of whether they ultimately remain together form the central narrative.
Aditya himself studied in the UK, and he says some of the film’s inspiration came from real-life experiences and people he encountered there, although the movie is fictionalised.
That distinction explains the tonal shift.
#90s looked at childhood and family life. EPIC looks at adulthood, independence, relationships and the experience of young Indians studying overseas.
Anand and Vaishnavi Reunite After Baby — But EPIC Is a Different Story
There is another obvious reason for the attention.
EPIC reunites Anand Deverakonda and Vaishnavi Chaitanya after Baby.
Aditya has revealed that Anand was his own choice for the lead role, while producer Naga Vamsi suggested Vaishnavi, believing that the Baby pairing would provide commercial value.
Aditya says he understood the producer’s reasoning more clearly after seeing the response to the new film’s promotions.
But both the filmmaker and actors have been careful not to present EPIC simply as another Baby.
Its setting, characters and relationship dynamics are different.
EPIC Is Already Planned Beyond ‘First Semester’
The title also carries a clue about what comes next.
Aditya has confirmed that he intends to continue the story with EPIC – Final Semester, with work planned after the first film’s release.
He has broader plans for the #90s world as well, including stories involving other family members and further seasons of the original series.
That makes EPIC—First Semester both a standalone theatrical test for Aditya and an attempt to expand a familiar streaming world into something larger.
When Is EPIC—First Semester Releasing?
EPIC – First Semester stars Anand Deverakonda and Vaishnavi Chaitanya and is directed by Aditya Hasan, marking his theatrical feature directorial debut.
The film is produced by Suryadevara Naga Vamsi and Sai Soujanya under Sithara Entertainments and Fortune Four Cinemas.
It is scheduled for theatrical release on 11 September 2026, with premieres reported for 10 September.
Why This EPIC Event Stood Out
The strongest part of the evening was not a conventional claim that the movie would become a blockbuster.
It was the collection of personal stories around it.
Vijay remembered Anand as the younger brother who once wanted to remain beside him.
Anand acknowledged that Vijay’s success transformed their family’s circumstances.
Sandeep Reddy Vanga remembered Anand before he became an actor at all.
And the filmmakers openly addressed why EPIC contains a more mature depiction of relationships than audiences might expect from the creator of #90s.
Together, those moments gave the pre-release event an unusually personal character.
Now the promotional speeches are over, and the decisive stage begins: audiences will get their first opportunity to judge whether Aditya Hasan can translate the relatability that made #90s popular into a theatrical love story when EPIC—First Semester arrives this week.
Key Takeaway
The EPIC—First Semester pre-release event stood out for its emotional family moments and unusually candid industry talk rather than routine promotional claims.
Vijay Deverakonda spoke warmly about Anand’s journey and publicly backed collaborators including Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Aditya Hasan, Naga Vamsi and Tharun Bhascker.
Anand credited Vijay’s success with changing their family’s circumstances.
Sandeep Reddy Vanga recalled Anand from the Arjun Reddy period, when he was still working in IT.
Separately, the team has addressed the film’s mature relationship content, including a live-in relationship and adult conversations, distinguishing it from the more family-oriented tone of #90s.
The film carries an A certificate and is scheduled for theatrical release on 11 September 2026.
The Rajatheertha Team publishes news, explainers, guides and updates across India and the world. Our coverage follows Rajatheertha's editorial, verification and corrections standards.
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