SS Rajamouli has offered the clearest sense yet of what Varanasi is actually about. At the 50th São Paulo International Film Festival, where he received the Leon Cakoff Career Award and RRR was screened with Portuguese subtitles, the director described his multilingual epic as a huge adventure with a deliberately simple emotional centre.
Why the story has stayed under wraps
Rajamouli has avoided laying out the plot in detail, and in a conversation with the ALMANAQUE21 YouTube channel he explained why.
“Sometimes I don’t, because the words don’t do justice to the scope of the film,” he said.
Instead of a synopsis, he pointed to the glimpse released last year, which takes audiences through the film’s worlds without explaining what happens in them.
Worlds, time zones and mythology
When he did describe the adventure, Rajamouli mapped out a film that moves through Antarctica, Africa and the city of Varanasi, across different time zones, and into a mythological space with giants and gods. But the scale is not what he wants audiences to hold on to.
“Everything is driven by the emotion of a father and son, and the emotion of a man and a woman…the love between them. That drives this entire adventure scheme,” he added.
That pair of relationships, he said, is the real engine.
Who plays whom
The cast places three actors around that emotional spine:
- Mahesh Babu plays Rudhra.
- Priyanka Chopra Jonas plays Mandakini.
- Prithviraj Sukumaran plays the antagonist, Kumbha.
What we know about the release
The film is in post-production, according to trade reports. A budget of roughly Rs 1,300–1,400 crore has been reported, but the makers have not confirmed that figure. The scheduled worldwide theatrical release is April 7, 2027, in multiple languages.
Why the emotional core matters
Rajamouli has often built spectacle on family stakes, and RRR’s presence at the same festival is a reminder that his films now travel far beyond their home market. Varanasi looks set to follow that pattern: a global-looking adventure that will live or die on whether viewers believe the father-son bond and the central love story.
That has a practical effect on how the film will be marketed. If the director thinks words cannot capture the scope, early promos are likely to favour imagery, set pieces and mood over plot details.
What movie lovers should do
If you have not seen last year’s glimpse, that is the best primer available. Beyond that, the film is asking for patience: it opens worldwide on April 7, 2027, and the story itself may stay largely under wraps until then.
Source: The Times of India
