Hyderabad: The launch event of the movie Varanasi took place in Hyderabad on November 15. Speaking of the grand film, SS Rajamouli stated that he had goosebumps seeing Mahesh Babu as Lord Rama.
Rajamouli said that the movie was his dream project.
“Since my childhood, I’ve spoken many times about what the Ramayana and Mahabharata mean to me, and how making them is my dream project. I never imagined I would get to shoot an important episode from the Ramayana this early. While writing every scene and every dialogue, I felt like I was floating. On the first day, when Mahesh came in Lord Rama’s get-up for the photoshoot, I had goosebumps. I was torn. Mahesh has the charm of Krishna, but the calmness of Rama. Still, I was confident. I even set that photo as my wallpaper and then removed it so that no one would see it,” said the director.
#Varanasi – #Ramayana & #Mahabharatha is my dream project I did a photoshoot of #MaheshBabu in Krishnan getup I got goosebumps there’s a portion as Lord Rama it’s filled with sub-episode its most memorable portion we shot 60 days for it
~ #SSRajamouli
pic.twitter.com/dj3mMFlMvR— Movies Singapore (@MoviesSingapore) November 15, 2025
Further, he talked about the process of shooting. “We shot this sequence for 60 days, and we completed it recently. Every single day was a challenge. Every episode and sub-episode felt like a film in itself; everything had to be reimagined and freshly planned. After crossing all those hurdles, we finally wrapped the sequence. I believe it will be one of the most memorable sequences in my films and in Mahesh’s films as well,” said Rajamouli.
Meanwhile, the role of Lord Rama is Mahesh Babu’s first mythological character. Addressing the crowd at the launch, the actor revealed that his father, superstar Krishna, also wanted him to be a part of such mythological movies. Unfortunately, he could not fulfil the dream at the time.
The mass movie stars Mahesh Babu as Lord Rama, Priyanka Chopra as Mandakini, and Prithviraj Sukumaran as Kumbha. The film is currently in production and is estimated to be released for a Sankranti 2027.