Rajamouli Reveals Love and Family at the Heart of Varanasi, Starring Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra

From a playful casting reveal to a journey across time

SS Rajamouli's Varanasi, the film first discussed under the working title SSMB29, will take Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Prithviraj Sukumaran through a story involving time travel, Antarctica, Africa and mythology. Its director has now described the relationships driving that journey: love between a man and a woman, and the complicated bond between a father and son.

Rajamouli discussed the film during an interview at Brazil's 50th São Paulo International Film Festival, where he received the Leon Cakoff Career Award. His comments give a more detailed picture of a production whose early publicity revolved around a teasing social media exchange between its director and stars.

An update dated October 27, 2026, described filming as complete and post-production as underway, with a cinema release expected in 2027. An exact release date has not been announced; the schedule is expected to be settled after post-production.

The new story details also identify the principal characters. Mahesh Babu plays Rudra, Chopra plays Mandakini, and Sukumaran plays the villain Kumbha. A sequence inspired by the Ramayana forms part of a larger adventure moving between places and eras.

How Mahesh Babu brought the cast into the conversation

The public conversation began with the promise of an update in November 2025. At that stage, the project was still being discussed as SSMB29, and Mahesh Babu used social media to remind Rajamouli that the promised month had arrived.

Mahesh Babu, the film's lead actor, opened the exchange with a short message to his director:

It's November already,

Rajamouli responded by asking which film Mahesh intended to review that month. The actor then referred to Rajamouli's long discussed Mahabharata project, steering the conversation back toward the announcement fans were waiting for. When the director said November had only just begun and information would come gradually, Mahesh challenged the pace.

Mahesh Babu continued the joke with a question directed at Rajamouli:

How slow sir…? Shall we start in 2030?

The exchange then moved from the timing of an announcement to the people involved. Mahesh tagged Chopra and joked about her posting images of Hyderabad's streets on Instagram since January. After Rajamouli chided him for spoiling the casting surprise, Mahesh also brought Sukumaran's involvement into the conversation.

Priyanka Chopra joined the joke

Chopra's response made the exchange feel less like a conventional cast announcement and more like a conversation among colleagues. She referred directly to stories Mahesh shared with her on set, placing their working relationship at the center of the banter.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who plays Mandakini, answered Mahesh with a playful warning:

Helloooo!! hero!!! You want me to leak all the stories you share with me on set? Mind lo fix aithe blind ga esestha..

The final Telugu phrase roughly means that once she makes up her mind, she will go ahead without hesitation. In context, it continued the joke about revealing information before the director was ready.

The later character details give that early conversation a clearer place in the film's publicity. The three actors drawn into the exchange are its central cast: Mahesh as Rudra, Chopra as Mandakini and Sukumaran as Kumbha. Their names are now attached to roles within the adventure, rather than simply to a project carrying a temporary label.

Love and a father and son drive the adventure

Rajamouli's discussion in Brazil focused on what holds the film's many settings together. He described a story built around romantic love and the emotional complexity of a father and son, with those relationships moving the action forward.

The explanation helps make sense of an unusually broad premise. A film can move between continents and centuries while still following a familiar human concern: what people will do for someone they love, or how a family relationship shapes their decisions. Rajamouli identified those emotional connections as the foundation of Varanasi.

The director discussed the film in an interview with Brazilian YouTube channel ALMANAQUE21 during the festival. He also explained why he had chosen to show a video glimpse of its world instead of trying to describe the entire story in words.

Rajamouli said the story's feeling was difficult to convey through a verbal explanation alone. His approach was to let viewers experience a little of the film through images. The preview introduced its scale, while his later comments explained the personal relationships beneath it.

A route through Antarctica, Africa and Varanasi

Varanasi's adventure crosses Antarctica, Africa and the Indian city that gives the film its name. One description identifies South Africa more specifically as part of that route. Rajamouli also described movement across different eras and mythological worlds, with giant creatures and divine figures among the elements involved.

Time travel means that the story moves between periods as well as geographical locations. For viewers, the journey therefore involves changes in when events happen, alongside changes in where they happen. The film brings those shifts together within one adventure.

The combination gives the title an interesting place in the story. Varanasi is a named destination within a journey extending far beyond the city, reaching the Antarctic region and Africa before also entering settings drawn from mythology.

Rajamouli's comments put human relationships alongside that geographical and historical reach. The emotional story is intended to connect scenes that may otherwise look very different from one another, from distant landscapes to encounters rooted in an epic tradition.

Where the Ramayana sequence fits

A preview of Varanasi showed Mahesh Babu in the form of Rama. The film includes a sequence inspired by the Ramayana depicting a battle between Rama and Kumbhakarna, the powerful warrior from the epic.

Rajamouli has explained that this episode is one part of the wider narrative. Varanasi's central adventure also includes the characters Rudra, Mandakini and Kumbha, along with its movement across time and place.

The Ramayana is an ancient Indian epic centered on Rama and his struggle against Ravana. Kumbhakarna is Ravana's brother. That brief context helps explain why the battle imagery carries a recognizable mythological meaning for many viewers.

Sukumaran's villain is named Kumbha, while the epic battle involves Kumbhakarna. Keeping those names attached to their respective roles makes the announced story easier to follow: Kumbha belongs to the principal cast of characters, and Kumbhakarna appears in the description of the Ramayana episode.

The writers and production behind the film

V. Vijayendra Prasad and S. S. Kanchi wrote the screenplay, with production under the Sri Durga Arts and Showing Business banners. Vijayendra Prasad is Rajamouli's father, adding a family connection behind a film whose director has highlighted a father and son relationship within its story.

Varanasi is Rajamouli's first feature film after the 2022 blockbuster RRR, which starred Ram Charan and Jr NTR. The São Paulo festival also screened RRR with Portuguese subtitles, placing his previous film alongside discussion of the new production.

The festival honored Rajamouli with the Leon Cakoff Career Award. His appearance there gave audiences in Brazil both a look back at his work and information about the project now occupying his attention.

Post-production is the stage after filming when recorded scenes are edited and work continues on elements such as sound and visual effects. For an adventure involving different eras, creatures and mythological settings, that stage is central to assembling the screen experience described by its director.

The timeline from SSMB29 to Varanasi

The project's public story has unfolded in stages, moving from a working title and cast hints to a named film with characters and a more detailed premise.

• November 2025: A promised update prompted the playful social media exchange between Mahesh Babu and Rajamouli, bringing Chopra and Sukumaran into the conversation.
• 2026, at the 50th São Paulo International Film Festival: Rajamouli discussed the film's settings and emotional foundation and received the Leon Cakoff Career Award.
• October 27, 2026: A production update described shooting as complete and post-production as underway.
• 2027: The film is expected to reach cinemas, with its precise release schedule still to be set.

The biggest change since the November exchange is the amount audiences know about the story. The conversation has moved from who is acting in the film to how their adventure will combine love, family relationships, time travel and a Ramayana episode.

For viewers following Mahesh Babu, Chopra or Sukumaran, the next major practical announcement is the cinema release schedule. For now, Rajamouli's description gives the film a more personal center: a journey across extraordinary settings driven by recognizable relationships.

Key Points

• SSMB29 is now titled Varanasi, directed by SS Rajamouli.
• Mahesh Babu plays Rudra, Priyanka Chopra Jonas plays Mandakini, and Prithviraj Sukumaran plays villain Kumbha.
• Rajamouli says romantic love and a complicated father and son relationship drive the story.
• The adventure moves through Antarctica, Africa, Varanasi and different eras, including mythological settings.
• A Ramayana sequence depicts Rama's battle with Kumbhakarna as part of the larger narrative.
• The film was described as being in post-production in October 2026, with a release expected in 2027.