SS Rajamouli has worked with some of the biggest stars of Indian cinema, but Mahesh Babu has managed to surprise him in an unexpected way.
“As an actor, I wasn’t too surprised because I have been watching his films for a long time. I know his talent,” the ‘RRR’ director said about working with Babu for the first time in ‘Varanasi’. “What surprised me was his work ethic.”
Chief among these surprises is Babu’s strict discipline regarding cell phones. “He comes to the office without his phone. He leaves his phone in the car and walks into the office,” says Rajamouli. “During filming, I never saw him come onto set with his phone. He didn’t pick up his phone until he got back in his car.”
This observation was so shocking that Rajamouli made a vow of his own: “I will not touch my cell phone when I am with my family.”
‘Varanasi’ has crossed multiple continents for thousands of years, with locations ranging from Antarctica to Africa to storied cities in India. Babu plays the dual roles of the protagonist Rudra and the Hindu god Rama, while Priyanka Chopra Jonas plays the character Mandakini, and the main antagonist Kumbha is played by Prithviraj Sukumaran.
Mr. Rajamouli said Mr. Babu’s discipline was unprecedented. “He’s not always busy in the office. He does his job and we discuss with him if he needs to practice something. Sometimes it takes two or three hours, but he just sits at the table and observes all the people working. He doesn’t answer the phone. He just observes,” he says.
While Babu wowed Rajamouli with her work ethic, Priyanka Chopra Jonas brought an unexpected global dimension to the production. While filming in Africa, a local crew member approached the actress to take a photo after filming. “I asked them, ‘So, are you going to watch her movies?’ And they said, ‘We’re fans of her work because of what she’s doing for the United Nations as a brand ambassador and her work in Africa,'” Rajamouli recalls.
This revelation deepened his appreciation for the actor. “I thought, wow, this woman is amazing. She’s accomplished so much on her own, and my respect for her grew,” he says.
Rajamouli has long been an admirer of Chopra Jonas’ work, going back more than 15 years. “I felt a bit of a loss,” he admits, when she started doing more work in the West. But his views changed after seeing her success in Los Angeles. “When I saw PC (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) being bought so much in LA for ‘Citadel’ and before that, ‘Quantico’, it was a really great feeling. Here we have our desi girl making it big in the West.”
Mandakini’s character required certain qualities that Rajamouli believes Chopra Jonas uniquely possesses. “She can be a really feisty girl, but she also has to be a really vulnerable girl. There are very few actors who can play both in the same role,” he says. “She has done a great job and we are very happy to have her on board.”
Recreating the city of Varanasi on a soundstage posed unique challenges. Production designer Mohan Bingi traveled to the holy city multiple times and took thousands of photos and 360-degree camera footage to faithfully recreate the ghats.
“It’s very chaotic, there’s a lot of color. There’s no symmetry, but it’s beautiful,” says Rajamouli. “Put down your camera and look at each element. One element may not resonate with another, but when you look at it as a whole, it all makes sense. That’s the beauty of Varanasi.”
The goal is to be immediately recognized without explanation. “It shouldn’t be subtitled saying it’s Varanasi. You should feel it the moment you watch it,” he explains. “Most of the credit goes to him (Bingi, the production designer).”
Rajamouli revealed that his method of directing relies heavily on collaboration with the technical team, maintaining a clear line between creative vision and technical execution. “I really depend on them,” he says. “I explain the story in detail from an emotional standpoint to every technician. For every shot, we discuss what I want from this shot.”
But he deliberately avoids micromanaging technical decisions. “I don’t give them instructions. I might say close-up, but I don’t say what lens, what distance, nothing, what kind of lighting. How do you light it? There’s no technical conversation with the technicians at all,” he explains. “I trust and rely on them to provide what I need.”
Despite receiving global attention following the Oscar success of ‘RRR’, Rajamouli maintains a focused philosophy when it comes to approaching new projects. “I strongly believe that you should throw away all your successes and start fresh for a new film. I truly believe that in my heart and with every cell of my being,” he says.
His approach is to treat each film as if it were his first. “This has to be the best movie I could ever make,” he explains. “Of course, I’m taking all the lessons I’ve learned from my previous films. Keep it in the back of your mind instead of putting it in front of you. Put all your knowledge in storage, throw it all away and start fresh.”
The director, who won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for RRR, says Varanasi represents a creative milestone in his relationship with Indian mythology. “Almost all my films are inspired by the[Indian epics]Ramayana or Mahabharata, a character, an instance, something,” he says. “For the first time, I am directly adapting an episode from the Ramayana. I feel elated. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to recreate what I have dreamed of for years.”
The weight of bringing material like this to the screen is huge. “Many people asked me if I should really do a ‘Ramayana’ or a ‘Mahabharata’ and how people would like to see it,” he says. “I know that one day I will try to do that. Meeting those expectations, and meeting my own expectations, is the biggest challenge of my life.”
As for whether a complete adaptation of ‘Ramayana’ will follow, Rajamouli reflects on the unpredictability of creative opportunities. “I never thought I would make an episode of ‘Ramayana’ in Varanasi. It happened. I had planned to make it much later,” he says. “Some things are out of our control. It happens when we least expect it.”
Varanasi will be released in theaters worldwide on April 7, 2027.
