India, May 21 -- We have loved Jr NTR in various roles, from a rebellion-fueled warrior, a reckless cop, to a charismatic action hero with a chaotic sense of humour. But nothing can prepare the fans for what they're about to witness next year with his upcoming movie, Dragon. Written and directed by Prashanth Neel, the movie took over five years to materialise. It's been touted as a film so dark, so violent, that the action star himself took a long time to say yes to the role. After months of anticipation, the makers finally dropped a teaser of Dragon, unveiling Jr NTR in his most menacing avatar yet.
The brief look sent the internet into a frenzy, with clips racking up over 50 million views in a single day across Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. Produced by Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, Naveen Yerneni, Y. Ravi Shankar, and Kosaraju Harikrishna, Dragon is, by all accounts, a bold career move for NTR. That's not our assessment, it's the director's.
In a conversation with Galatta Plus, Neel described the protagonist as the darkest role he has ever written, and called accepting it "one of the most difficult decisions" of the RRR star's career. He praised NTR for being "brave" enough to take it on. The team, he added, spent three years figuring out how to make the protagonist's dark and aggressive behaviour feel justified on screen.
Fans will have to wait a whole year to witness this explosive performance by the superstar. With the teaser out, the title announced, and the release date locked in, let's break down all the details you must know about the Dragon movie, starring Jr NTR in his most violent avatar yet.
Jr NTR goes full villain in Dragon: All about the dark action movie
What is the plot of Dragon?
Set in 1969, the film is a gritty action saga centred on the brutal fight for control over the opium trade. The teaser opens with a hard-hitting voiceover tracing how the British seized control over Afghanistan and the Golden Triangle, the world's two primary opium poppy cultivating regions and, with it, 95% of the global heroin trade. After the British left, they also left behind the most lucrative remnant of their rule: the opium trade, triggering a bloody war between rival trading companies vying for dominance.
The blood-soaked teaser then cuts to glimpses of the brutal characters caught in this war. Amidst the chaos, NTR is introduced as 'the Devil' - a vicious killing machine who operates without an ounce of remorse. In a world populated entirely by villains, there is only one exception: Raghuveer Rathod, Chief of the Narcotics Bureau of India, played by Anil Kapoor.
Cast of the Dragon movie
Jr NTR plays the titular role in the movie, alongside Anil Kapoor, Biju Menon, Rukmini Vasanth and Khushbu Sundar, playing crucial supporting roles. The cast also includes Guru Somasundaram, Rajeev Kanakala, Ashutosh Rana, Anshuman Pushkar, Sidhant Gupta, Prabhas Srinu, Shatru, Shiva, and more.
When and how to watch Jr NTR's upcoming movie
Jr NTR's Dragon is set for a pan-India release in theatres on 11 June 2027. It will be released in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam languages.
Watch Dragon teaser here