S.S. Rajamouli opened up on his next film, Varanasi.
He revealed that it would be a standalone film, dismissing franchise speculations.
He shared that all the major IMAX sequences have been shot.
Filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli confirmed his upcoming project Varanasi will operate as a standalone film rather than launching a multi-part franchise. The announcement resolves intense speculation regarding the narrative scope and potential sequels for the feature. As part of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, screenings of his films RRR and Eega were held. On June 27, the RRR director gave a masterclass where he spoke about his upcoming film Varanasi and confirmed that, unlike Baahubali, it will be a standalone film rather than a franchise. Currently, he's on a break from a shoot as he is touring Europe with his retrospective. During the interaction, Rajamouli emphasised, "You are going to experience the cold and ice of Antarctica. The gods of Ramayana, the natural disasters and fantastic elements. That's the experience you are going to have, but at the core of all this is the emotions of father and son. All this makes Varanasi for you."
No Franchise Plans
The decision to restrict Varanasi to a single release departs from the popular Indian cinema trend of building multi-part cinematic universes. Competing studios increasingly rely on extended storytelling formats across multiple instalments. Rajamouli clarified that the narrative arc of Varanasi is designed to be fully resolved within a single feature-length film. The story will conclude entirely in one theatrical run, bypassing the serialised franchise format. Variety spoke to Rajamouli about progress on Varanasi. “What I can say is we have completed a major portion of the shoot, all the important big spectacle action sequences are done,” Rajamouli said. "We are [now] into doing the smaller, interconnecting scenes so hopefully, by September, maybe a little bit into October, we should be finishing shooting.” When discussing whether shooting the film on the Imax format had influenced the way he had approached the film creatively, Rajamouli says that it’s quite the opposite.
IMAX Return To Hyderabad
The release of Varanasi in 2027 is timed to the IMAX theater returning to the city of Hyderabad. Rajamouli was most enthused about it, saying, “it was high time we had Imax theaters in Hyderabad, because for me Hyderabad and the states of Telugu-speaking people Andhra and Telangana are the biggest film buffs in the entire world."
