Feb 06, 2026 3:44pm IST
After SS Rajamouli’s ‘Dharna’ Demand For ‘Varanasi’, IMAX Responds: ‘Always Eager, Open for Business — India Is No Exception’ (EXCLUSIVE)
A previously filmed interview of “Varanasi” director SS Rajamouli has gone viral after it was put out on social media and YouTube. When asked if India would see an IMAX screen in the 1:43:1 format in time for the release of his big-budget spectacle in 2027, he said he’s prepared to travel to IMAX's office in Los Angeles and pitch a tent there and do a ‘dharna (protest)’ to demand one.
SS Rajamouli’s “Varanasi”, due April 7, 2027, has been shot entirely in the Imax-compatible 1.43:1 format, as revealed by the filmmaker at the film’s launch event in Hyderabad. In a previously filmed interview, he had told Screen Rant that when he started designing “the worlds of ‘Varanasi’” (because “it takes you to different worlds”), they realized that they “needed a bigger format to encamp and capture their magnificence”. He shared with the interviewer that “IMAX was the “first thing that came to mind” and that technical discussions followed.
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Adding that it was the largeness of the worlds that made them push for a largeness of screen, he bemoaned the fact that India doesn’t have that many big screens, leading him to have an “audacious thought” to build a 100 ft. by 130 ft. screen to reveal the teaser.
When egged on by the interviewer to reveal if we’d see a 1:43:1 IMAX screen in India in time for the film’s release, he said, “In India, if we are not happy with someone, we pitch tents outside their office and demand something.” He followed it up with the now-viral line: “I'm going to pitch a tent outside IMAX in LA and do a dharna demanding that we need big screens here in India.”
In response to the filmmaker’s statement, Giovanni Dolci, Chief Commercial Officer, IMAX Corporation, exclusively told Variety India that they “work hand-in-hand with exhibitors around the world to bring IMAX screens to their cinemas” and that “India is no exception”.
In a past interview to Economic Times, Dolci has maintained that “There is room for at least 150 IMAX theatres in India” and that Imax has increased its Indian footprint “by almost 60% since 2020”.
While the state’s film industry boasts of superstars setting up screens across the South of India, none have come forward (not even “Varanasi”’s lead actor, Mahesh Babu) to confirm that Hyderabad would get an Imax screen in time for the film’s release in 2027, much less one in the 1:43:1 format, as the process is time-consuming, sources tell us. Incidentally, India is IMAX’s seventh-largest market worldwide, making a strong case for more screens.
Reiterating IMAX’s commitment to building new locations in the country, Giovanni Dolci shared with Variety India, “We’re always eager to find additional locations, and especially locations that could support our signature IMAX 1.43:1 aspect ratio, in India. IMAX is open for business with any exhibitors in the country who want to work with us in making that a reality.” Fingers crossed!
For now, India only has one true 1:43:1 screen in Gujarat’s Science City and that one is not open for commercial use. As of 2025, India has 34 IMAX screens, but they all screen in the 1:90:1 format. And that status quo remains unchanged.
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The problem is that exhibitors are charging hefty prices even for normal screens nowadays. If they can loot money with simple standard screens, why will they even try and setup a 1.43 IMAX with huge investment.