Rajamouli’s Epic 9,200-Year History Film Set in Varanasi

Right now, somewhere in Hyderabad, a 7,000-year-old city is under construction.

Not a CGI render. Not a green screen. A full-sized, physical replica of ancient Varanasi — built brick by brick, scaled down by about 30%, for S. S. Rajamouli’s next film.

And that’s just the set. The production has also taken its cameras to Odisha and Kenya, making Varanasi one of the most geographically ambitious shoots in Indian cinema history.

But geography isn’t even the most staggering number attached to this project. That honour belongs to the budget: ₹1,400 crore — placing Varanasi among the most expensive Indian films ever announced.

The Director Who Made the World Pay Attention

Before we get to what Rajamouli is building, it’s worth understanding why the world is watching him build it.

In 2022, a Telugu-language film called RRR did something that almost never happens: it crossed every language barrier, every cultural wall, and landed on global stages that Indian cinema had never reached before. Critics who had never watched a South Indian film were writing essays about it. Audiences who couldn’t read the subtitles fast enough were watching it twice.

Rajamouli didn’t stumble into that moment. He engineered it — through scale, emotion, and a filmmaker’s instinct for what makes people lean forward in their seats. RRR didn’t just perform well; it announced that Indian storytelling, told at full ambition, could compete with anything made anywhere in the world.

That’s the context behind every headline about Varanasi. When Rajamouli commits to a project, the question isn’t whether people will watch. The question is: how far is he willing to go this time?

The answer, apparently, is 9,200 years back in time — and then all the way forward to 2071.

It’s also worth noting that this collaboration has been a long time coming. Initial discussions between Rajamouli and Mahesh Babu began as far back as 2010, but the project only truly materialised after the completion of RRR in 2022 — making Varanasi the culmination of over a decade of creative intent.

A Story That Spans 7200 BCE to 2071

Three timelines. One film.

Varanasi — Rajamouli’s next theatrical release, confirmed for 7 April 2027 — doesn’t just jump between past and present. It spans from 7200 BCE all the way through to 2071, weaving through global catastrophes and asteroid threats across more than nine millennia of human history, compressed into a single cinematic experience.

At the center of it all is Rudhra, played by Mahesh Babu — a character whose story unfolds as the ancient city of Varanasi faces the impending arrival of an asteroid. Joining him are Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran, in what is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious ensemble casts assembled for an Indian production.

The screenplay itself is a family affair. Rajamouli co-wrote the film with V. Vijayendra Prasad — his father and longtime collaborator, the same duo behind Baahubali and RRR — alongside S. S. Kanchi, bringing a layered, multi-generational creative vision to a story that literally spans generations of human civilisation.

The film was formally launched in January 2025, with principal photography commencing the following month in Hyderabad. It is produced by Sri Durga Arts and Showing Business, with a reported budget of ₹1,400 crore — a figure that, on its own, signals just how seriously the industry is betting on Rajamouli’s vision.

The ₹1,400 Crore Bet on Indian Cinema’s Future

Numbers matter in cinema, not because art is reducible to money, but because money tells you something about belief.

A ₹1,400 crore budget is not a cautious investment. It is a statement. It says: we believe this story deserves to be told at the largest possible scale, with the finest possible craft, for the widest possible audience.

To put that in perspective, very few Indian productions have ever been greenlit at this level of financial commitment. Varanasi isn’t just competing with the biggest films India has ever made — it is, by budget alone, redefining what Indian cinema is willing to attempt.

Rajamouli has always operated at the edge of what Indian filmmaking thought was possible. With Varanasi, he appears to be moving the edge itself.

What Rajamouli Is Actually Building

The physical set in Hyderabad is worth dwelling on for a moment, because it represents something increasingly rare in modern blockbuster filmmaking: a commitment to the tangible.

In an era where entire cities are conjured in post-production, Rajamouli chose to build one. A sprawling recreation of ancient Varanasi, constructed on open land, scaled down by approximately 30% — large enough to feel real, precise enough to feel ancient. Actors aren’t performing in front of blue screens and imagining a world. They are walking through one.

That decision has a cost — financial, logistical, and creative. But it also has a payoff that no amount of digital rendering can fully replicate: the weight of a real place pressing back against the people moving through it.

Combined with location shoots in Odisha and Kenya, Varanasi is shaping up to be a production that treats the entire world as its canvas — rooted in Indian cultural themes, but conceived, as Rajamouli has described it, as a globetrotting adventure drawing inspiration from the structure and emotional tone of classic adventure cinema.

Why This Film Matters Beyond the Numbers

The budget. The timelines. The set. The cast. The locations.

Each of these facts, taken individually, would be enough to generate headlines. Together, they describe something more significant: a filmmaker operating at the absolute frontier of his craft, backed by a production infrastructure that has decided to match his ambition rupee for rupee.

Varanasi is scheduled to arrive in cinemas on 7 April 2027. Between now and then, the cameras will keep rolling — across Hyderabad, Odisha, Kenya, and wherever else this 9,200-year story demands to be told.

The ancient city is being rebuilt. The story is being written. And the world, as it did with RRR, is already watching.