Rajamouli’s Varanasi: Business deals and business challenges

India’s biggest filmmaker, S. S. Rajamouli, is currently working on his most ambitious project yet, Varanasi, starring Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra. Touted as India’s most expensive film, the project reportedly carries a massive budget of around Rs 700 crore, making it a huge financial gamble even for a director of Rajamouli’s stature.

Rajamouli’s films are known for setting box office records. His last film, RRR, collected more than Rs 1200 crore worldwide and even won an Oscar for its song Naatu Naatu. Naturally, expectations for “Varanasi” are sky-high. However, the current film trade scenario is not as strong as before.

In recent months, the OTT market has slowed down, and theatrical revenues are no longer guaranteed to reach extraordinary levels. Because of this shift, even a Rajamouli film may find it challenging to secure record-breaking pre-release deals.

Trade circles say the film needs to generate at least Rs 1000 crore theatrical revenue in India and another Rs 300 crore from non-theatrical rights to become profitable. But the OTT deal is still pending. Negotiations are reportedly ongoing with Netflix, with Rajamouli said to be demanding more than Rs 300 crore for digital rights.

Meanwhile, overseas distribution discussions have also begun. Reports suggest that Phars Film has quoted around Rs 160 crore for the entire overseas rights package.

Another key factor is ticket pricing. In recent times, films that hiked ticket prices heavily struggled to sustain long theatrical runs. On the other hand, movies like “Dhurandhar” had long theatrical run setting new records with regular ticket rates. This trend raises a crucial question: should Varanasi rely on higher ticket prices to recover its huge investment?

If ticket prices are pushed too high, it could affect the film’s long-term box office run despite the massive hype.

Currently, “Varanasi” is in production. After completing a schedule in Hyderabad, the team is expected to travel to Antarctica to film key sequences. The film is tentatively scheduled for a April 7, 2026 theatrical release, making it one of the most anticipated Indian films in the coming year.