29 January,2026 05:01 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Team of Varanasi
In November, the makers of director SS Rajamouli's upcoming film organised a grand event to announce the title of their film. Starring Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead, the film has been titled Varanasi. Rajamouli is one of the most prolific makers of Indian cinema and represented Indian cinema at global platforms. Now, the makers have locked the release date for the film. Varanasi will be released on April 7, 2027.
Rajamouli's Varanasi will be released a little over a year later. The film will be released on the occasion of Ugadi and Gudi Padwa in 2027. Apart from the festive weekend, the film will also enjoy the benefit of Ambedkar Jayanti holiday on April 14, 2027.
Driven not only by the director's towering global reputation, the film also unites the star power of Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra, and Prithviraj Sukumaran. Understandably, despite being more than a year away from release, the film has triggered enormous pre-release buzz, with OTT giants reportedly racing to secure its digital rights.
According to Hindustan Times, "Varanasi is the hottest property from India in the global streaming market. The film follows the immense success of RRR in the West and its historic Oscar win. Rajamouli's previous film Baahubali 2 had also earned over 62 million dollars overseas, making the director a recognised name in global markets. Naturally, his next project has sparked a bidding war for digital rights, with trade sources stating that streaming platforms are considering Hollywood-level payouts. The final figure could go as high as Rs 1000 crore."
SS Rajamouli said, "Firstly, I would like to thank the Rachakonda Police Department. KL Narayan garu, thank you for bringing Mahesh and me together. Usually, before my films, I hold a press meet and narrate the story - it became a tradition. But actually, I don't do that for every film. For âBaahubali', I didn't. If there is scope, we will; if not, we won't. For this film, we won't. But we wanted to release an announcement video to set the expectations right. We planned it for March but couldn't. Then the rains came⦠and now, on November 14, we are finally coming with that video. It's becoming difficult to keep referring to it as "this film" without revealing the title."
Lauding Superstar Krishna, he said, "I didn't know much about the greatness of Superstar Krishna garu earlier. I was a fan of NTR garu, but after entering the industry, I understood Krishna garu's legacy. To introduce a new technology, you must break many norms, and he did that with multiple films. Today, I am proud to say we are introducing a new format to Telugu cinema: a premium large-scale format, filmed for IMAX. You might think, "Aren't there already IMAX films?" The ones we usually watch are blown-up versions of the CinemaScope print. But a few films, like âBaahubali' and âRRR', were actually shot, mastered, and VFX-finished specifically for the format. This film too is being created for IMAX in the truest sense."
