Director S.S. Rajamouli unveiled the first images of Priyanka Chopra Jonas as Mandakini in his upcoming epic “Varanasi,” posting two contrasting portraits of the actor on her birthday Saturday and reviving anticipation for his first directorial project since the Oscar-winning “RRR.”
Rajamouli captioned the reveal with a line describing his lead character’s dual nature: grace in her smile, fire in her absence of one. The first image casts Chopra Jonas in a black corset-style outfit against an amber, fire-lit backdrop, her hair pulled into a tousled updo and her expression severe. The second shows her airborne in a white crop top, cargo pants and a loose jacket, arms spread and grinning.
The film reunites the director with Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu, who plays a character named Rudhra, and brings in Malayalam actor Prithviraj Sukumaran as the antagonist, Kumbha. Rajamouli revealed the title at a fan event at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad in November, after the project had circulated under the working name “GlobeTrotter.” Estimates place the production budget between 1,000 and 1,300 crore rupees, roughly $112 million to $146 million, making it one of the costliest films ever mounted in India.
Rajamouli said recently that the shoot had reached its final stretch, noting that “all the important big spectacle action sequences are done.” The story stretches across thousands of years, drawing one sequence from a chapter of the Ramayana, and was filmed in locations including Antarctica and Africa alongside a full-scale replica of Varanasi’s ghats and temples built on studio grounds in Hyderabad.
The role marks Chopra Jonas’s return to Indian theaters for the first time since 2019’s “The Sky Is Pink.” Speaking on a podcast hosted by her husband, Nick Jonas, and his brothers, she said she had spent roughly 14 months on the project and described Rajamouli’s methodical approach to building large-scale films. “Varanasi” is scheduled to open worldwide, including in IMAX, on April 7, 2027.
