SS Rajamouli has finished filming the primary, large-scale action sequences for his upcoming film Varanasi.
The action-adventure stars Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Prithviraj Sukumaran in lead roles.
The production team expects to wrap up the remaining smaller connecting scenes by September or October.
SS Rajamouli Shares Update On Varanasi: 'Have Completed A Major Portion, Action Sequences Are Done'
SS Rajamouli has completed major action sequences for Varanasi, starring Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, ahead of its release next year in April.
Summary
SS Rajamouli's Varanasi, starring Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Prithviraj Sukumaran, is one of the highly anticipated projects, scheduled to hit the screens next year.
The action-adventure is currently in production. Rajamouli shared major updates on Varanasi while attending the Annecy Animation Festival work-in-progress panel. He appeared at the event to introduce his upcoming project, Baahubali: The Eternal War.
Varanasi shooting nears completion
Rajamouli told Variety that they have completed a major portion of the film and all the important big-spectacle action sequences are also done.
"We are into doing the smaller, interconnecting scenes so hopefully, by September, maybe a little bit into October, we should be finishing shooting," he said.
Planning for IMAX format
The film has been shot to accommodate both IMAX and CinemaScope formats.
"From the beginning, we knew the sequences that were conceived would be best justified in the Imax format – we didn’t change anything just for the format," Rajamouli said.
The director also said that a combination of both formats needed some initial practice.
"Because our eyes have been trained to shoot in the CinemaScope format, which obviously I love, [we were] just thinking about, we need to frame this to look good both in Imax as well as CinemaScope, the anamorphic framing, so that took a little bit of adjustment for the first few initial days," he added. "Then we understood how to do it."
Varanasi to be made in two parts?
Earlier, reports claimed that Rajamouli is considering splitting Varanasi into a two-part format.
Bollywood Hungama had quoted a source saying, "3 hours-plus would not be enough for Varanasi. They are looking at extending it into a two-part format. This format has worked wonderfully for Dhurandhar. Rajamouli and his team feel this extended format would afford them the liberty to tell a more expanded story without looking anxiously at the clock."
Advertisement
Varanasi will hit the screens on April 7, 2027.
The Baahubali franchise is also expanding with Ishan Shukla's Baahubali: The Eternal War, an upcoming animated feature based on the fantasy film series.
It aims to deepen global ties and expand the worldwide reach of the Indian animation industry.
Published At: