‘Only 4-5 days of shooting left for Mahesh Babu’s Varanasi’ says S S Karthikeya

Producer S S Karthikeya says post-production work on S S Rajamouli's Varanasi, starring Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran, is progressing quickly and should be completed by January. The film is scheduled for a worldwide IMAX release on April 7 next year

Chennai: Producer S S Karthikeya, one of the producers of ace director S S Rajamouli’s Varanasi, featuring actor Mahesh Babu in the lead, has disclosed to IANS that post-production work on the film is progressing at a brisk pace and that they should ideally complete it by January next year.

Talking to IANS 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 to complete 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 S S 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 M M Keeravani and is being produced by Sri Durga Arts and Showing Business. The film is scheduled 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 Mahesh Babu’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 and magnetic, while carrying the quiet intensity that defined his character. The second transported fans to the sweeping plains of Kenya’s Maasai Mara, where Rudhra was seen standing with a commanding look amid giraffes and wild beasts.

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

Director S S 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.”

The makers have already revealed the characters and looks of Prithviraj and Priyanka Chopra in the film. While Prithviraj plays the antagonist Kumbha, Priyanka Chopra plays Mandakini.