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SS Rajamouli's most ambitious picture is coming to life, quite literally. This past November, the visionary director behind RRR officially announced his latest project -- a globe-trotting, century-spanning, mythological epic called Varanasi.
Varanasi is captained by Mahesh Babu, the most popular face in Telugu Cinema, and sees the return of Priyanka Chopra to Indian films for the first time in nearly a decade. Standing opposite Babu and Chopra will be Prithviraj Sukumaran, one of the country's most accomplished villainous actors.
varanasi
This past November, ScreenRant was invited to Hyderabad, India to celebrate the official unveiling of Varanasi, speak with Rajamouli and his three leading actors, and tour the film's titular set. Now, the time has come to unveil what that journey to where the magic is made looked like.
ScreenRant Visits SS Rajamouli's Varanasi Set: Everything We Learned Rajamouli Rebuilt The Historic Holy City From Scratch For The Film's Production
As one famous American film once said, "If you build it, they will come."
SS Rajamouli took those words to heart with Varanasi. The film, which has been promoted as being a #Globetrotter production, shot sequences in Kenya and is reportedly set to film scenes in Antartica this year, making it only the fourth film in history to hold production in the ice continent.
And even with those world-spanning shoots on the schedule, the biggest obstacle Varanasi would encounter from a location standpoint would be filming in its titular city. The real-life Varanasi, which is located on the Ganges river in northern India, is considered to be the spiritual capital of India. Also known as Kashi, it's ancient name, this city is a central location for the traditions of pilgrimage for many Hindu people.
In an effort not to disrupt the spiritual practices going on in the real-life city, Varanasi opted to build its own Varanasi in the middle of Hyderabad.
How Much Of Varanasi Will Be Filmed In The City Itself? The Reconstructed Set Factors Into Two Major Moments In The Film
What you see in the photos above is effectively a life-size scale model of the city of Varanasi. When speaking to one of the film's assistant line producers, it was noted that "some of the buildings are 30 percent scaled down" in an effort to save space within the allotted land for shooting.
In total, Varanasi will shoot for "around 55-60 days" at this particular set, including both "action and drama sequences." Within that two-month stretch, this set will be used for two different time periods. The version seen in the photos is the present day.
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"In the past version, most of our scenes that we are doing are closer to the water. The building that you see behind you (pictured above) is one of the major changes," the line producer added. "It is sunken down by about 12 feet. We have the rest of the building constructed, and we have sunk it down, so when we go back to the olden era, we'll have to pull it back up, cut it down into pieces, and rearrange it."
And that's effectively where the reveals end, for now. Varanasi remains largely shrouded in secrecy, a mandate directly enforced by Rajamouli himself. The director does not allow cell phones on the Varanasi sets as an added layer of precaution to prevent spoilers from surfacing.
Varanasi hits theaters on April 7th, 2027.
Source: ScreenRant Plus
Varanasi Like Follow Followed Adventure Action Drama Science Fiction Release Date April 7, 2027 Director S. S. Rajamouli Writers Vijayendra Prasad, S.S. Rajamouli Cast See All Mahesh Babu Rudhra Priyanka Chopra Jonas Mandakini Prithviraj Sukumaran Kumbha
Producers K.L. Narayana, S. S. Karthikeya Powered by Expand Collapse
