All eyes are on Varanasi. At least, that’s how it felt this past November when SS Rajamouli, India’s most revered filmmaker, unveiled his latest project to a raucous Hyderabad crowd. Tens of thousands of Indian fans gathered in a custom-built outdoor arena, crafted specifically to showcase the Mahesh Babu-led film’s teaser trailer in its authentic 1.43:1 IMAX format, and their raving reception to the three-minute glimpse made Varanasi feel like the motion-picture of the millenium.
While Rajamouli’s involvement alone is enough to skyrocket Varanasi to the top of India’s watchlist, his leading stars take it to another level. The aforementioned Mahesh Babu can best be described as the prince of Telugu cinema — his popularity in Hyderabad is genuinely on par with Taylor Swift’s fandom in America. Priyanka Chopra is India’s highest-paid actress, and Varanasi represents her homecoming to her country’s entertainment industry after spending the past seven years making films in Hollywood. Prithviraj Sukumaran has made over 100 films in his career, making him one of the most tenured working actors today.
In celebration of Varanasi‘s title and teaser reveal this past November, ScreenRant traveled over 8,000 miles to Hyderabad, spoke with Rajamouli, and visited the Varanasi set, to gain insight on India’s most ambitious film to date.
SS Rajamouli Shatters The Glass Ceiling Of Filmmaking With Varanasi
“I have been known push for the boundaries…”
SS Rajamouli has been directing feature films for 25 years now, beginning his career with Student No. 1 in 2001. His past three projects catapulted his name into directing royalty, with the Baahubali films shattering box office records and RRR making history at the Academy Awards. While Varanasi is set to be India’s most expensive film, Rajamouli notes that his team’s track record has earned the “trust” of his production companies.
“I have been known for pushing the budgets and boundaries right from my second or third film, I started pushing the boundaries a little bit more than what the market is,” Rajamouli said. “With Baahubali, we pushed it really, really hard and we were successful in doing that. The production companies had that trust in me. Even though the budgets are higher, we will find ways of bringing back the investments. We have proved it, me and my team, have proved it over and over again that we could do it. It is not a corporate structure that just looks at the numbers. It is a trust and confidence of individuals which makes it happen.”
That trust goes beyond his production companies. Rajamouli confirmed to ScreenRant that Varanasi clocks in at “around three hours” and will be a complete story, and he has no hesitation that his audience will be dialed in for the full runtime.
“We considered it briefly and we quickly dropped the idea,” Rajamouli said when asked if he considered splitting Varanasi into two parts. “It’s a one film, one-time film. If the audiences are not invested in the characters of the world, forget three hours. They won’t even watch it for three minutes. I don’t think runtime is the issue. It is about pulling them into the world. If you are able to do that as a director, if you’re able to do that, I don’t think runtime is a major issue.”
Varanasi Is Filmed For Authentic IMAX Screens
“We realized we needed a bigger format to encapture their magnificance…”
While the story of Varanasi remains heavily guarded, the medium in which it will be delivered is heavily advertised. Varanasi is being filmed for true IMAX, specifically the 1.43:1 format.
“Once we started designing the worlds of Varanasi — and I’m not saying world of Varanasi, I’m saying worlds of Varanasi – because the story takes you to different worlds. We realized we needed a bigger format to encapture their magnificence,” Rajamouli said. “IMAX is the first thing that came to our mind. Unfortunately, we don’t have many big screens here in India. We had this audacious thought that if you don’t have one, let’s build one. We literally built that 100-foot by 130-foot screen to share the teaser.”
When asked if he thinks India will have a 1.43:1 IMAX screen by Varanasi‘s April 2027 release date, Rajamouli revealed his plan.
“In India, we call something like that ‘dharna,’ that says, ‘If you are not happy with someone, we pitch tents outside their office and say, ‘We demand something,'” Rajamouli said. “So I’m going to pitch a tent outside IMAX in LA and demand them. We need big screens here in India!”
Varanasi hits theaters on April 7th, 2027.
Source: ScreenRant Plus
- Release Date
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April 7, 2027
- Director
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S. S. Rajamouli
- Writers
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Vijayendra Prasad, S.S. Rajamouli