S.S. Rajamouli Says ‘Varanasi’ Imax Action Done, Interconnecting Scenes Remain and ‘Baahubali’ Belongs in Animation (EXCLUSIVE)
The films of S.S. Rajamouli have consistently pushed the scale of Indian filmmaking – with blockbusters such as “RRR,” before that the “Baahubali” films. His upcoming feature “Varanasi,” set to release in April 2027, is set to go even further – set across thousands of years and locations as remote and Antarctica, the plot seeing the eponymous city of Varanasi facing down an asteroid. Even the size of the frame is expanding, with the feature to be shot in part on 70mm Imax film.
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Following his appearance at the Annecy Animation Festival work-in-progress panel to introduce the filmmakers of “Baahubali: The Eternal War,” Variety spoke to Rajamouli about progress on “Varanasi.” “What I can say is we have completed a major portion of the shoot, all the important big spectacle action sequences are done,” Rajamouli says. We are [now] into doing the smaller, interconnecting scenes so hopefully, by September, maybe a little bit into October, we should be finishing shooting.” When discussing whether shooting the film on the Imax format had influenced the way he had approached the film creatively, Rajamouli says that it’s quite the opposite.
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“From the beginning, we knew the sequences that were conceived would be best justified in [the] Imax format – we didn’t change anything just for the format,” he says, noting that any adjustments made were minor. “Because our eyes have been trained to shoot in the CinemaScope format, which obviously I love, [we were] just thinking about, we need to frame this [to] look good both in Imax as well as CinemaScope, the anamorphic framing, so that took a little bit of adjustment for the first few initial days. Then we understood how to do it.”
At the same time as working on “Varanasi,” the “Baahubali” franchise is hoping to deepen the global ties of the Indian animation industry through the upcoming feature “The Eternal War,” directed by Ishan Shukla.
Considering the balance of working on a feature like “Varanasi” during the production of the animated continuation of “Baahubali,” Rajamouli notes that there’s so much writing and history around “Baahubali” by this point that expanding the story comes fairly naturally. “We have a whole world of ‘Baahubali’ that’s already been written, so we don’t need to dwell when we step into the world of ‘Baahubali,’ there’s a lot of work that’s already done,” he says. “The second part is when a person like Ishan [Shukla] comes in, you see and test the initial whether he has that understanding of how the characters in ‘Baahubali work, ‘and once you see that yes, he understood it, I step back, and I let them take over.”
Rajamouli is confident in Shukla as well as the move for “Baahubali” into the medium of animation, with consideration of the animation industry in India being somewhat underdeveloped by comparison to its live action feature films. “We always believed ‘Baahubali’ will find success in the medium. It is just about finding the right person, right team, and the right expansion of the story, so we always had the belief in taking the leap,” Rajamouli says. “The moment Ishan came with the idea of taking ‘Baahubali’ into the 14 realms of Indian mythology. I thought, that this is the moment that we were waiting for, and of course, that’s ideation, and the expansion of that ideation is where many people fail.”
The filmmakers of “The Eternal War” were conscious of an international audience during production, and expressed as much during the work-in-progress presentation. Rajamouli says that the medium perhaps allowed an even greater range of expression, saying that it perfectly captures what he sees as the beauty of Indian stories, which is the “color.” “I don’t just mean color [literally],” he adds, “but the characters, the emotions, and how the emotions are played are very colorful, I think that is very unique to India, and I think the audiences – I won’t say audiences across the whole world – but those have already seen ‘Baahubali’ or ‘RRR,’ or whoever got a taste of that, are definitely waiting for more. Getting all that taste in live action is very difficult, with animation it’s much more feasible, so all of us are very hopeful that ‘Eternal War’ makes that possible.”
The flexibility of the animated medium allows the story of “The Eternal War” to reach mind-boggling scale. Rajamouli has spoken in the past about not letting such scale overtake the emotion of a feature, but he also sees the spectacle as inextricably linked. “I think it is the emotion that drives the bigness of the film. I never see them as two separate things. For me, the emotion is the seed, the spectacle is the tree hidden inside. So, when you choose the seed, you know how it is going to bloom up into that massive tree.”
The release of “Varanasi” in 2027 is serendipitously timed to the Imax theater returning to the city of Hyderabad. Rajamouli spoke enthusiastically of it, saying “it was high time we had Imax theaters in Hyderabad, because for me Hyderabad and the states of Telugu-speaking people Andhra and Telangana are the biggest film buffs in the entire world,” Rajamouli says.
“I believe they love film so much: not just Telugu cinema, they love Hindi cinema, they love Tamil cinema, they love Malayalam cinema, they love English cinema, whatever films are made across the globe, they love it with their heart, and they deserve to have their own Imax.” Rajamouli reminisces that one of the best Imax 70mm projectors used to be in Hyderabad with the Prasad Imax. “But once Imax turned digital and something fell off, and then many other cities were having Imaxs, and we didn’t have that anymore. It was like very frustrating for us as film buffs, but finally it is happening, and I’m so happy for it.”
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Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
Venezuela Fury and Noah Price subsidising their life by livestreaming
Venezuela Fury and her husband Noah Price look to be making their own way in the world by raking it in from their lucrative social media accounts.
The influencer daughter of Tyson and Paris Fury, 16, has become an internet sensation after tying the knot with her husband Noah, 19, earlier this year.
Since getting married and moving in together the couple have been earning thousands of pounds a month, livestreaming their life as newlyweds in their static caravan in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
And fans can't get enough of their regular life updates on TikTok and Kick, which have proved to be very profitable for the pair.
They look to be supporting themselves after Noah denied that he was given £5million by Venezuela's family as a wedding gift.
Despite his wife's huge family wealth, an estimated combined £160 million, Noah recently told his Kick followers that he 'pays for everything' for the couple.
Making light of the claims about Venezuela's millionaire financial status, Noah said: 'I actually pay for everything unfortunately. You'd expect the millionaire to pay for it wouldn't you.'
Venezuela Fury and Noah Price are earning thousands livestreaming their caravan life - after her new groom insisted he pays all the bills and denied he had £5m handout from her dad
The influencer daughter of Tyson and Paris Fury , 16, has become an internet sensation after tying the knot with her husband Noah, 19, earlier this year
Venezuela then asked their fans: 'Do you think I am a millionaire?'
Noah joked: 'She isn't a secret millionaire guys', before she broke into song and sang: 'But I live like a millionaire!'
But it seems according to estimated calculations from their social media work, Noah and Venezuela can more than afford to support themselves.
Noah has been livestreaming on platforms such as Kick and TikTok, where viewers can send paid gifts or donations.
He was previously encouraging viewers to send gifts on his honeymoon during livestreams, suggesting this is one revenue stream.
Both Noah and Venezuela have built substantial followings on Instagram and TikTok. They can potentially earn money through sponsored posts, brand collaborations, affiliate links and creator payouts.
Kick allows its creators to take home 95 per cent of the £4.99 subscription cost that fans pay.
Streamers keep 100 per cent of direct tips and donations, minus minor standard payment processing fees.
It is unclear how many subscribers Noah currently has because this information is hidden, but he does have 7,200 followers which is publicly viewable.
An industry insider has suggested Noah is making around £400 per video on TikTok, while Venezuela is likely to make £2,000 due to her following count of 1.3 million.
An industry insider has suggested Noah is making around £400 per video on TikTok, while Venezuela is likely to make £2,000 due to her following count of 1.3 million
In one video on their honeymoon, Noah asked his followers if they'd give them some more gifts now that they were married.
In a TikTok live viewed by 20,000 he said: 'Keep liking our videos people, keep sending gifts.'
After saying thank you to several of his followers he joked they should stick around on the livestream and 'watch Venezuela punch me in the mouth'.
The other half of the honeymooning couple said: 'I am, honestly!'
Noah previously confirmed that the pair don't share their finances after they were asked whether they have a shared bank account.
'She earns her money, I earn mine,' said Noah, as Venezuela joked: 'Yeah, what you gonna do about it.'
Noah went on to debunk the rumour that Tyson gave him £5million when he tied the knot with his daughter as he insisted: 'No Tyson did not give me £5million'.
Meanwhile Venezuela is being eyed up by executives for a fly on the wall TV series.
Noah went on to debunk the rumour that Tyson gave him £5million when he tied the knot with his daughter as he insisted: 'No Tyson did not give me £5million'
Boasting 1.3 million TikTok followers, Venezuela is already entertaining fans with her honest musings and candid moments, from cooking to kitting out her and Noah's static caravan home.
And following the success of the Netflix series At Home With The Furys, it is no wonder bosses are wanting to draw on the Fury popularity.
A TV insider said: 'The couple are not A-list celebrities but everyone has become obsessed with their love story.
'People are genuinely intrigued by them. Whether it’s the fact they have married so young, Venezuela’s famous family or their gypsy lifestyle, they have the ‘X factor'.
'Several TV executives think a proper fly-on-the-wall series following their lives as newlyweds in the gypsy community would be fascinating,' they told The Sun.
It is thought Netflix would be likely to produce the series due to their already established relationship with the Furys.
Venezuela's representatives told The Daily Mail: 'We have many offers on the table regarding Venezuela which we are discussing.'
