3 minutes of readingHyderabadFebruary 11, 2026 01:40 pm IST
Singer Nick Jonas has offered a rare glimpse of his wife Priyanka ChopraThe ambitious return to Indian cinema, which reveals that the global star has been deeply immersed in the filming of SS Rajamouli’s much-awaited masterpiece, Varanasi.
Speaking on the Zach Sang Show while promoting his new album Sunday Best, Jonas shared his excitement about the project: “Priyanka has been filming for the last 14 months on and off. It’s a South Indian film by SS Rajamouli, who directed RRR. It’s her next big film. It’s going to be amazing.”
For Chopra, Varanasi represents her long-awaited return to Indian cinema. Her last appearance in Bollywood was in 2019’s critically acclaimed The Sky Is Pink, and her last appearance in a Telugu film dates back to 2013’s Thoofan. In Rajampuli’s film, she plays Mandakini, described as a mysterious thief and explorer who bridges mythological and modern narratives. Beyond talking about his wife’s career, Jonas used the platform to share his genuine fascination with how Indian cinema approaches music.
“The melodies are just incredible. They’re on a scale that we’re not as familiar with here,” Jonas explained. “What I love about Hindi and Southeast Asian music is that a lot of times the music comes from a movie and becomes famous.”
He went on to highlight the unique tradition of playback singing that has defined Indian cinema for generations: “Very often it is actors who lip sync to someone else’s voice. But there are music composers who specialize in making songs sound like big hits and fit cinematically. That is something very inspiring to me. There is a lot of good music in Indian cinema.”
Varanasi is scheduled to release in theaters on April 7, 2027, coinciding with Ram Navami. The production team introduced Varanasi as the official title in Hyderabad‘s Globetrotter in November 2025. The accompanying trailer begins by sweeping the holy city from above before cutting to a gripping scene of a colossal space rock hurtling toward our planet. The footage culminates with Mahesh Babu’s Rudra riding a bull, trident in hand. The film will be released in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and English, with music by Oscar-winning composer MM Keeravani, who previously collaborated with Rajamouli on the RRR and Baahubali films.