SS Rajamouli is back and how! A grand event announcing the title of his time-travel adventure – Varanasi and the formidable casting of Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra, has sent fan excitement soaring. After delivering three back-to-back big blockbusters – Baahubali: The Beginning, Baahubali: The Conclusion and RRR, the Makkhi director is eyeing another mega hit with this star-studded ensemble.
Rooted in Hindu mythology, the Rs 1100-crore spectacle offered its first taste of scale with a teaser unveiled at a globetrotting event at Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad. The teaser shows fascinating glimpses across different time periods and locations from Antarctica, Varanasi, Kenya, 512 CE, 2027 CE, and even the Treta Yuga.
The vibe of the event was complete as Mahesh Babu spoke about playing Rudhra, while Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran opened up about their characters, Mandakini and Kumbha, respectively.
Varanasi cast salary
With a massive Rs 1100-crore budget, the film is already making headlines, and now, reports about the cast’s paycheques have started coming in. Here’s who’s charging what.
Mahesh Babu and SS Rajamouli: According to Koimoi, Mahesh Babu and SS Rajamouli both will not charge anything, and will get paid only if the film turns profitable. As per reports, Mahesh Babu has signed a 40% profit-sharing deal, along with the producers.
Priyanka Chopra: Coming to Priyanka Chopra’s paycheque, a DNA report claims that the actress has demanded Rs 30 crore, which makes her the highest paid Bollywood actress, surpassing the salaries of Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone.
Prithviraj Sukumaran: While the final details regarding his salary is not out, he usually charges Rs 4-10 crores for a film, as per DNA. For Varanasi, it is rumoured that he will take home more than Rs 10 crore.
Prithviraj on being offered one of Rajamouli’s finest roles
Rajamouli has intensely enjoyed working on the film. Talking about a major sequence int he film inspired by an important episode from Ramayana, the filmmaker said “while writing every scene and every dialogue, I felt like I was floating.” The ace director told fans how the sequence took 60 days to shoot and was one of the most challenging sequences of his career.
Prithviraj Sukumaran during the event shared how Rajamouli messaged the actor if he wanted to do one of his finest characters yet. A few days later, the actor landed in his office and was thoroughly impressed with the narration.
“Five minutes into the narration, I was blown away. I listened to it like a little boy who’s got his hands on the next edition of his favorite comic book. How does someone think like this? Where do you find the inspiration to picturize something like this?” he said, while describing his character as “one of the most complex, the most emotionally and physically challenging characters that Rajamouli ever thought of.”
