SS Rajamouli: Mahesh Babu Gave 200% as Rudhra in Varanasi

SS Rajamouli has set the bar high for his first collaboration with Mahesh Babu, and by his own account, the Telugu star cleared it with room to spare. Speaking at a university in the United States, the director of Baahubali and RRR said Mahesh Babu “gave 200 percent” to his role as Rudhra in the upcoming action-adventure Varanasi, now locked for an April 7, 2027 theatrical release.

Rajamouli said he expected Mahesh Babu to give 100 percent, because that is what he knows the actor is capable of. But once cameras rolled, the performance went far beyond that. “He really nailed the character and surprised me with how much he brought to it,” Rajamouli said, describing the experience as special.

That endorsement carries weight. Mahesh Babu has rarely been pushed into this kind of mythic, globe-trotting register before, and Varanasi is being positioned as a large-canvas spectacle in the mould of Rajamouli’s earlier blockbusters.

A filmmaker unsatisfied with the epics he grew up on

Rajamouli also explained why Varanasi exists in the first place. On the Empire Film Podcast, he said he was “never fully satisfied with how these epics were presented on screen,” referring to the way Indian cinema has historically handled mythology and grand narratives. His ambition is to bring that material to audiences with the scale he feels it has been missing.

For fans of RRR and Baahubali, this is a telling admission. Those films worked because Rajamouli treated mythology not as costume drama but as propulsive, modern spectacle. Varanasi looks like his attempt to push that approach further, anchoring it in an original story rather than a known text.

What Varanasi is about

The stakes are cosmic: a massive asteroid named Shambhavi is on course to threaten the city of Varanasi. Rudhra, a rugged archaeologist and explorer played by Mahesh Babu, is recruited for a high-stakes mission to recover an ancient cosmic artefact. He is joined by Mandakini, a historian and marksman played by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and their journey spans the jungles of Africa, Antarctica and locations across Europe.

Standing in their way is Kumbha, a technologically advanced antagonist, while secrets linked to Varanasi’s mythical past could hold the key to averting catastrophe. Prithviraj Sukumaran has a pivotal role, and Mahesh Babu has reportedly completed filming his portions.

• First collaboration: SS Rajamouli and Mahesh Babu finally team up
• Release date: April 7, 2027, in theatres
• Cast: Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Prithviraj Sukumaran
• Plot: An asteroid named Shambhavi threatens Varanasi; Rudhra must recover a cosmic artefact
• Status: Mahesh Babu has wrapped his portions; extensive VFX work lies ahead

Why it matters for Hindi film fans

Rajamouli is one of the few Indian directors whose name alone draws audiences across language barriers. When he says an actor exceeded his expectations, it signals that Varanasi is being crafted with care. For Mahesh Babu, it is a pan-Indian launchpad that could reshape how the Hindi audience sees him.

The real question is whether Varanasi can do what RRR did: turn a Telugu-rooted film into a national event. With mythology placed front and centre, Rajamouli is betting that audiences are ready for Indian epics told with blockbuster craft.

Source: India Today