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Priyanka Chopra’s Dance Request Drives Rajamouli’s Varanasi as Cast Confirms Song, IMAX Shoot and Three-Hour Cut

The Telugu epic blends time travel with a Ramayana passage, targeting an April 7, 2027 theatrical debut.

Overview

  • Priyanka Chopra says she asked S. S. Rajamouli to “make me dance,” leading to energetic routines that Mahesh Babu calls “sensational,” with one song already filmed.
  • Filming is underway in Hyderabad as Chopra makes a high-profile return to Indian cinema after roughly six to seven years.
  • Rajamouli confirms about 25 minutes are set in a mythological period inspired by the Ramayana, with Mahesh Babu also appearing as Lord Rama in that sequence.
  • Parts of the film, including Ramayana battle scenes and an Antarctica episode, were shot in IMAX, following a teaser launch on a custom 100 x 130-foot screen.
  • The director says it will be a single feature running around three hours, with music by M. M. Keeravani and a story by V. Vijayendra Prasad.