3 minutes of readingChennaiFebruary 9, 2026 10:51 am
As fans wait for the next masterpiece, Varanasi, by SS Rajamouli, RRR directorThe filmmaker recently shared his thoughts on the meticulous planning and rigorous effort that went into making the film. In a recent interaction, Rajamouli spoke about taking 60 days to shoot a single 25-minute sequence of the film. The sequence represents an episode. Inspired by the Hindu epic Ramayana.
Varanasi inspired by Mahabharata and Ramayana
Speaking to The Wrap, he said: “Most of my films are inspired by the epics of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, the Indian epics. In this film, I had the opportunity to literally film an episode of the Ramayana.”
Rajamouli shared details of the sequence and explained how it weaves multiple moments from the Ramayana into a 25-minute epic battle scene. “That episode of the movie is a combination of multiple sub-sub-episodes. So all of this together lasts about 25 minutes in the movie, once in the movie. Filming that set of episodes, each one was like making a movie on its own. The emotions that we had to go through, the audience, the characters had to go through that sequence are different from each episode,” he said.
The filmmaker described shooting the 25-minute sequence as like making a movie in itself, considering the level of difficulty involved. “In some episodes, the creative challenges were different. The technical challenges were different. So, for everything, it was like tackling a completely new movie, every sub-episode. That was really, really challenging,” he said.
Rajamouli admitted that he and his team had to go all out to shoot the sequence, which took almost 60 days to complete. “We had to put all our brains together, all our efforts to film that sequence. We filmed it for 60 days and it was one of the most satisfying sequences for them,” he said.
The director declared that “it will be one of the most memorable sequences in my films.” Rajamouli also described the moment when he first saw his lead actor, Mahesh Babu, dressed as Ram for the sequence and how it overwhelmed him. “I felt like I was walking on air. The first day, when I saw Mahesh dressed as Rama and doing a photoshoot, I got goosebumps,” she admitted.
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Earlier, Mahesh Babu, whose character is called Rudra in Varanasi, spoke about playing the role of Lord Rama in the film and said, “I am playing the character of Lord Rama. It requires posture. You can’t stand modern characters,” he said.
Apart from Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra plays the role of a mysterious thief named Mandakini in the film, while Prithviraj Sukumaran plays the main antagonist, Kumbha. The film is scheduled to be released in theaters next year on April 7.