Indian studio Sagar Pictures Entertainment has unveiled the first teaser poster for "Shrimad Bhagavatam Part I: Vishnurata," the opening instalment of a planned seven-part theatrical franchise based on the "Bhagavata Mahapurana." The film, centred on Lord Shri Krishna, is scheduled for global theatrical release in 2027 and marks the studio's bid to bring a major Hindu religious text to the big screen with a scale it says is unprecedented for the genre. The project matters as a follow-up act to Sagar's landmark 1987 television series "Ramayan," made by the same family and hugely influential in Indian popular culture.

The film is co-directed by brothers Akash Sagar Chopra and Amrit Sagar Chopra, SPE's CEO and senior vice president of content respectively, who are grandsons of the late producer Ramanand Sagar. They said six years of studying the source text preceded production, which is now nearing completion, and that the film's visual style draws on traditional devotional paintings and sculpture rather than reinventing familiar religious imagery. "Vishnurata" translates as "the one always protected by Vishnu," a name linked to King Parikshit in the original text. Sagar Pictures Entertainment is the film arm of the Sagar Pix Group, a Mumbai-based media conglomerate with over 75 years of storytelling history, more than 55 TV series and 25 feature films to its name, and reach across South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian diaspora.