SS Rajamouli’s ‘Varanasi’: A first look at the time-travel film

HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli, the blockbuster movie director behind global hits like “RRR” and “Baahubali” that redefined Indian cinema’s scale and caught Hollywood’s attention, has unveiled his most ambitious film yet.

Known for blending mythic storytelling with grand action and imaginative choreography, Rajamouli announced his latest film — and its title — at an event Saturday in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, where thousands of his cheering fans thronged to catch a first glimpse.

While details about the plot of the film “Varanasi” — previously code-named “Globe Trotter” — remain under wraps, the nearly four-minute video showed a visually rich time-travel adventure that draws parts of its storyline from Hindu mythology. The film borrows its title from the Indian city considered Hinduism’s spiritual heart.

Rajamouli said the film will be projected in cinemas in IMAX format and is expected to release in 2027.

“Here you go… VARANASI to the WORLD…” Rajamouli wrote on X.

At the event, he alluded that one of the film’s sequences draws from “an important episode” from the Ramayana, a Hindu religious epic based on Lord Rama’s life.

For “Varanasi,” Rajamouli has assembled a star-studded cast, headlined by Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Prithviraj Sukumaran. Having attained fame as a Bollywood superstar, Chopra Jonas returns to Indian cinema with this film after several Hollywood projects. A film poster shows her as the character Mandakini, in a mustard sari with a pistol in hand as she balances on the edge of a cliff.

“Varanasi” is Babu’s first collaboration with Rajamouli. The first look shows him as a fierce warrior covered in blood and riding a white bull with a trident in hand. Babu indeed made his entry onstage Saturday atop a mechanical white bull.

“It is a once-in-a-lifetime project,” Babu said after unveiling the teaser in Hyderabad’s Ramoji Film City, the throbbing heart of Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood. “I will make everyone proud. The whole of India will be proud of us.”

Thousands of frenzied fans watched the film’s first glimpse on a mammoth 110-by-130-foot (33.5-by-39.5-meter) screen flanked by replicas of Varanasi city. A display of colorful lights and dazzling fireworks lit up the venue as crowds danced to the foot-tapping tunes of Telugu music — a mix of new songs and classics — turning the event into a vibrant festival.

The Telugu-language film industry has carved out its own identity separate from Hindi-language Bollywood with its high-octane and sometimes logic-defying action, mythic storylines and grand visual style. And much of Tollywood’s recent success — critical and box office — has been credited to Rajamouli, whose larger-than-life heroes and ambitious filmmaking with imaginative visual effects have catapulted the film industry onto the global stage.

Rajamouli became an international name after “RRR,” or “Rise, Roar, Revolt,” his 2022 three-hour, Telugu-language epic set in British India. The sprawling anti-colonial tale became one of India’s biggest hits, turned into a global streaming phenomenon, and won an Oscar for best original song. His two-part “Baahubali” series, released in 2015 and 2017, broke box-office records in India and introduced Western audiences to the visual grandeur of Telugu cinema. A reedited version combining the two parts, “Baahubali: The Epic,” released in cinemas worldwide just last month.

Many Tollywood film fans traveled from faraway towns and villages to watch Babu, who commands a near-godlike following among them.

“It’s not actually Tollywood now, it’s global now,” said Manideep Rayudu, a fan. “Our superstar Mahesh Babu is not a regional star anymore. He is a global star.”