Indian director SS Rajamouli has revealed his upcoming film, Varanasi, is five to six times larger in scale than his three-hour historical epic RRR, released in 2022.
Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran star in the film about an archaeologist trying to prevent a global catastrophe. It is set against a variety of backdrops, including the holy city of Varanasi in India, Antarctica, and Africa, and explores ancient and mythological Indian eras. Varanasi is set for release in April 2027.
“We are told the stories of our mythology, history and heroes right from our childhood,’’ said Rajamouli, who works in Telugu cinema (Tollywood) and co-wrote Varanasi with his father V. Vijayendra Prasad and S. S. Kanchi.
The filmmaker applied one lesson learned from his global pop-culture phenomenon RRR to the new production. “I did a lot more paperwork on Varanasi, going into filming even more prepared,” he explained. “We shot RRR in 315 days and Varanasi, despite being bigger, in 275 days, saving 40 days.
Rajamouli was talking to an audience at the 50th São Paulo International Film Festival, known as Mostra de São Paulo, on his first visit to Brazil. He gave a masterclass and received an honorary Leon Cakoff award.
Treasure trove
The director is renowned for making films of epic scale and intense action rooted in Indian mythology, and blends live-action footage with CGI. “Because India is a treasure trove of stories, without even thinking, when I start writing, those references automatically come into the screenplays,’’ he explained.
“The speciality of Indian stories is that we need to have all kinds of emotions to make a film complete,’’ he continued, referencing the Navarasa, a central concept in Indian aesthetics and the performing arts that means “nine emotions” or “nine essences”. ”Because we have multiple emotions, whether it is sadness, laughter or anger, a good story encompasses all of them,” he said. “That is why, for people who are not aware of Indian cinema, they feel it’s like multiple genres in one film.”
Much as he did on RRR, the fictionalised story of two anti-colonial revolutionaries that won the best original song Oscar for Naatu Naatu at the 95th Academy Awards, Rajamouli will use music and dance to push Varanasi’s narrative forward, deepening the bonds between the characters and expressing cultural pride through the musical numbers.
Explaining why musical moments do not slow down the plot of his films, the writer-director said: “I don’t see action choreography or dance choreography as two separate things. In my films, action choreographers choreograph dance and dance choreographers compose action sequences. For me, choreography, action and dance are just instruments that can enhance the emotion of a scene’’.
Rajamouli said he was planning a big worldwide theatrical release for Varanasi, asserting: “That is how I want the world to watch it.” Although RRR was released theatrically in more than 40 countries, it went straight to streaming in Brazil. That is why Mostra de São Paulo screened RRR at a packed Sala Petrobras ahead of the session.
“When RRR hit Netflix, we started getting information that it was topping the Netflix charts in Brazil, which filled us with wonder and gratitude,” he said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine doing so well worldwide.” Produced by DVV Danayya on a budget of $72m, RRR grossed over $166m worldwide. At the time of its global release on the platform in May 2022, the epic ranked as the most-watched non-English language film on Netflix.
On the subject of how RRR has changed him, Rajamouli said: “At the core, I’m the same storyteller, just a little bit more finesse in terms of directing.” But the pressure he feels as a filmmaker has increased significantly. “As the films become more successful and start going beyond the borders, many people tell me they are getting to know a little bit of India through my films,” he said. “And that immediately makes me very frightened, scared and probably a little bit more responsible in how I narrate my stories.”
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