SS Rajamouli, Mahesh Babu’s 'Varanasi' Locks April 2027 Release Date
The film reportedly follows the catastrophic fallout after an asteroid strikes the city of Varanasi.
Filmmaker SS Rajamouli is set to unveil his latest global epic Varanasi, next year. Headlined by Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran, the globe-spanning adventure has booked an April 7, 2027 release date.
The release date announcement began with a smart campaign, when hoardings surfaced across Varanasi city with a simple statement: In theatres, April 7, 2027. Shortly after, film trade across the world got a tip off of the global outing of Varanasi, which has been filmed for IMAX.
On Friday evening, Rajamouli took to X and dropped a new poster of the film, confirming its release date. The release date poster showed an asteroid tearing through Earth’s atmosphere, confirming the plot of the film that has been doing the rounds.
A screengrab from Letterboxd had gone viral about the film's plot, which states that a chain of catastrophic events is set in motion when an asteroid strikes the city of Varaṇasi. "Is the world on the brink of doom? Does humanity need a saviour—one who must traverse continents and timelines—to alter the most crucial moment in Earth’s history?"
The visual glimpse of Varanasi, which was released on a grand scale in Hyderabad last year, features fantastical glimpses of various places and spaces, such as Antarctica, Varanasi, and Kenya, across time periods, including 512 CE, 2027 CE and the Threthayuga, hinting at a possible time travel drama.
The teaser ends with Mahesh Babu charging ahead on a ferocious bull, amidst the background of the pilgrimage city of Varanasi.
Varanasi stars Chopra as Mandakini, while Sukumaran will be seen as the film's antagonist, Kumbha. The film, reportedly mounted on a whopping ₹1,000 crore budget, reunites Rajamouli with RRR composer MM Keeravani.
Rajamouli has been shooting the film since last year and is expected to wrap it up by August, following which the team will begin its extensive post-production work. Varanasi is Rajamouli's first film since his global breakout with RRR in 2022, which bagged an Oscar for the Best Original Song for the track 'Naatu Naatu'.