After RRR, SS Rajamouli unveils the sumptuous teaser of his new epic: Varanasi

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Mahesh Babu star in the film, which had an epic presentation a few days ago in India.

After making the event in 2022 with RRR (150 million dollars in revenue and an Oscar to boot) and put Indian cinema at the center of the international scene, SS Rajamouli is finally making his return. Or almost.

Today he presents Varanasi. During a feverish launch in Hyderabad, he unveiled the first images of this new epic which will be carried by star Priyanka Chopra Jonas and by Prithviraj Sukumaran and Mahesh Babu. Note that Varanasi is the local name given to the sacred city of Benares, on the bank of the Ganges.

50,000 Mahesh Babu supporters chanted his name under the sky of Ramoji Film City, while a 30-meter LED screen revealed this trailer in the form of a fresco spanning millennia, from Antiquity to today. Rajamouli convenes a chapter of the Ramayana and claims an ambition: to achieve the mythological excess of a Mahabharata.

The filmmaker says he shot sixty days of a segment inspired by Ramayana : “Each episode had its sub-episodes, with new challenges. It will be one of the most memorable sequences of my career…and Mahesh’s.” The actor plays Rudhra, while Chopra Jonas plays Mandakini and Sukumaran plays the dark Kumbha. Part of the film was shot in Imax format, several extracts of which have been released.

On stage, Sukumaran greeted “l“he biggest name in Indian cinema, pushing its ambition even further”, when Priyanka Chopra thanked Jonas “the visionary who brought Indian cinema to the world“. Mahesh Babu, receiving a standing ovation, promised: “I will make everyone proud. The whole of India will be proud.”

Varanasi is not yet ready. The film is targeting a worldwide release in summer 2027.