Maoist Party Responds on Chhattisgarh Encounter

Rajamouli and Mahesh Babu are set to join forces for one of the most anticipated collaborations in Indian cinema with Varanasi. The upcoming project is now sparking comparisons with Prabhas’s Kalki 2898 AD, particularly due to its exploration of time travel, mythology, and large-scale spectacle.

While Kalki 2898 AD was set in a near-futuristic dystopia, Varanasi takes audiences in the opposite direction, traversing ancient timelines and mythological eras. Reports suggest that the story spans multiple yugas—from Treta Yuga to Kali Yuga—and even stretches across continents, from Antarctica to Africa. The narrative promises a mythological globe-trotting adventure deeply rooted in Indian history and philosophy, evoking the spirit of an Indian version of an Indiana Jones-style quest.

Mahesh Babu plays Rudhra, an adventurer and devoted follower of Lord Shiva, tasked with recovering powerful cosmic artefacts scattered across different eras. Priyanka Chopra stars as Mandakini, a fearless woman navigating the modern world, while Prithviraj Sukumaran is set to play the antagonist. The synopsis hints at a catastrophic asteroid strike on Varanasi, raising the stakes and posing the question of whether a saviour must travel through time to alter humanity’s fate.

Industry insiders note that while time travel has been a popular theme in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean cinema, it remains relatively unexplored in Indian films. Given Rajamouli’s enduring fascination with Indian mythology and epic storytelling, expectations are sky-high for Varanasi to deliver a grand, cinematic spectacle.