Oct 20, 2026 12:17pm IST
SS Rajamouli Confirms Only 10 Days of Shoot is Left For ‘Varanasi,’ Talks About Challenges of Combining Six to Seven Films into One
SS Rajamouli made an appearance at the 50th São Paulo International Film Festival, where he was bestowed with the Leon Cakoff Award. A screening for his film, “RRR,” was also held at the festival, where the Indian filmmaker addressed the crowd waiting for him.
Talking to Brazilian portal Oxente Pipoca, he chatted about his upcoming magnum opus “Varanasi,” starring Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead roles. Rajamouli revealed that only about 10 days of filming are left for the film. He added that working on this project is like combining 6 to 7 projects under the same umbrella, which was the biggest challenge for the team.
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In another chat, he talked about the scale of the movie, “Each scene of ‘Varanasi’-let it be in Antarctica, Africa, the city Varanasi- whether it’s the time travel sequences leading into mythology, the Ugarabati Caves, or the climax, each set piece, each episode is like a completely different film. All of them are tied together with beautiful emotion, but each one has a different kind of procedure and we needed to do R&D (research and development) on each episode, figure out how to picturize it and bring it to life on screen. Each [one] of it is different with no connection between any of them in terms of filming it. That was the biggest challenge: to hold our nerves, to hold ourselves together in making six to seven films which fit into one film. That was the biggest challenge for us.”
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"This film is an emotional journey of the father-son bond that initially broke up and then came back together. In this story, the most beautiful love story between a young man and a young woman creates magic," revealed Rajamouli.
The project began shooting in February 2025 and has continued across the world, including India, Kenya, Antarctica and Georgia. Following the completion of filming, the post-production will continue.
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