‘Varanasi’ Post-Production to Wrap in Jan 2029?

Producer S S Karthikeya, who is one of the producers of ace director S S Rajamouli's 'Varanasi', featuring actor Mahesh Babu in the lead, has now disclosed to IANS that post production work on the film was going on at a brisk pace at present and that they should ideally be completing it by January next year.

Talking to media on the sidelines of a pre-release event organised for the producer's next film -- 'Don't Trouble the Trouble', featuring Fahadh Faasil in the lead -- the producer of 'Varanasi' said, "We only have four to five days of shooting left to go for completing the film. Post production work on 'Varanasi' is happening simultaneously. It is progressing at a brisk pace and we should be done with everything by January next year."

For the unaware, director SS Rajamouli's 'Varanasi', which features Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead, is slated to hit screens worldwide on April 7 next year.

The film, which has triggered huge expectations among audiences and fans, has music by MM Keeravani and is being produced by Sri Durga Arts and Showing Business. The film is to release worldwide on April 7, next year in IMAX.

The makers of the much awaited magnum opus 'Varanasi' had unveiled two exclusive stills from the film on the occasion of the actor's birthday last year. The stills offered the world its first glimpse of Mahesh Babu's character Rudhra in his element.

The first still captured Rudhra at rest on a bamboo raft, surrounded by a dense jungle, effortlessly cool, magnetic and carrying the quiet intensity that defined his character while the second transported fans to the sweeping plains of Kenya’s Maasai Mara, where Rudhra was seen standing with a commanding look, amidst giraffes and wild beasts.

'Varanasi', sources say, will be a globe-trotting, century-spanning epic in which one man’s extraordinary journey will be seen taking him from the sacred waters of India to the wildest corners of the earth.

Director SS Rajamouli, while speaking about Mahesh Babu's character Rudhra after the launch of the film's title teaser, had said, “Rudhra was born to fulfill a purpose much larger than himself. He carries a destiny he did not ask for. He is witty, he is vulnerable, and he is fierce. That is what Mahesh brought to him. Anyone can play fierce. Very few can play fierce and fragile in the same breath.These frames are from our Africa schedule, and the land gave us something no set could. Shooting around Kilimanjaro and in the Maasai Mara, I was stunned. There were mornings when I felt even the 1.43:1 IMAX frame could not hold what was in front of us.”

Already, the makers have revealed the character and looks of Prithviraj and Priyanka Chopra in the film. While Prithviraj plays the antagonist Kumbha, Priyanka Chopra plays Mandakini in the film.