SS Rajamouli ‘doubted’ if Priyanka Chopra would work for Varanasi, director reveals whether film will have 2 parts

Priyanka Chopra is finally making her return to Indian cinema, 6 years after her work in The Sky Is Pink, back in 2019. Laden with a lot of concerns and foreign projects, her time away hasn’t been easy. Much like the actress, the director for her next project, Varanasi, SS Rajamouli, was also worried about how things would pan out for the star. In a chat with Screen Rant, the director shared how he feared her being unable to fit right in on the Indian playground.

Priyanka Chopra’s return to Indian cinema was worrisome forthe  Varanasi director, here’s why
SS Rajamouli had valid reasons for worrying about the fit of his female lead on the Varanasi sets. “It’s been a while since she did an Indian film. I think the last one she did was eight years ago. She did a lot of Hollywood productions in between. I had a little doubt whether she’s changed her approach according to the Western audience and if she’ll be ready to move back to her Indian base…” the director shared. His worries were easily rested by the Bajirao Mastani actress who gelled up almost instantly, with him calling it ‘a fish into water,’ moment. 

The 52-year-old went on to share that he chose the actress for the role of Mandakini owing to her ability to do both bad-ss and vulnerable characters. He called himself a fan of the actress’s work.

He went on to reveal how he initially considered splitting the movie into two parts. But the thought of dividing Varanasi was swiftly shot down, and he instead stuck to a lengthy one film, which is expected to be about 200 minutes or 3 hours as per the filmmaker. "We considered Varanasi as a two-part film for a brief period of time. But we quickly dropped the idea, and the runtime of the film will be around three hours."

Varanasi, the upcoming magnum opus, is making noise even before its release. From a grand unveiling event in Hyderabad to its recent April 7, 2027, release date confirmation, the reaction has been loud. Starring Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra, and Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead roles, the mythologically inspired storyline is raising the expectations of fans around the world.