The Dhurandhar Influence? Now You Will Have To Wait Twice As Long For Rajamouli’s Varanasi

SS Rajamouli to Split Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra Starrer Varanasi Into Two Parts Following Dhurandhar Box Office Success

Rajamouli promised a standalone epic, but the Dhurandhar Effect just changed the game. Is Varanasi too big for one movie? Find out what changed.

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Friday, March 27, 2026. The heat in Mumbai and Hyderabad isn’t just coming from the sun today; it is radiating straight from the editing suites of the biggest film in Indian history.

SS Rajamouli has finally done it. He is doubling down on his vision. The rumors that have been buzzing like a swarm of bees for months have finally been confirmed by the inner circles of the industry.

Varanasi, the film we all thought would be a one-shot cinematic explosion starring Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, is now officially a two-part saga.

It is a massive pivot for a man who recently told international journalists that he wanted a clean, standalone story. But when you are dealing with a timeline that stretches from the dawn of civilisation in 7200 BCE to the high-tech chaos of 2027, three hours just isn’t enough. The scale is simply too large to fit into a single bucket of popcorn.

The Dhurandhar Shadow and the Two-Part Fever

To understand why Rajamouli is making this move, you have to look at what happened last week. Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge hit the theatres on March 19 and basically set the box office on fire, crossing 1,000 crore in just seven days.

It proved one thing to every producer in the country: the audience doesn’t just want a movie; they want an era. They want to live in a world for years, not just hours.

According to Bollywood Hungama, a source close to the project revealed that the decision to split the film wasn’t about greed, but about breathing room.

The report suggests that the narrative was becoming so dense that a single three-hour runtime would have felt like a rushed summary rather than an epic journey.

Rajamouli and his team reportedly felt that this extended format would afford them the liberty to tell a more expanded story without looking anxiously at the clock every few minutes. It is a gamble, but Rajamouli is the man who turned a story about a guy who dies and comes back as a fly into a national sensation.

If anyone can pull off a two-part time-travel heist across seven millennia, it is him.

From 7200 BCE to the Sambhavi Asteroid

The details leaking out about the plot are enough to give any sci-fi fan a heart attack. This isn’t just another period drama set on the banks of the Ganges.

We are talking about a globetrotting action-adventure that features an asteroid named Sambhavi hitting the Earth.

The teaser, which recently made history by being screened at the Le Grand Rex in Paris, showed glimpses of Antarctica and Africa before settling on the Manikarnika Ghat.

Mahesh Babu, playing the role of Rudhra, is seen riding a bull and wielding a trishul in a sequence that looks like it cost more than the GDP of a small country. Then you have Priyanka Chopra Jonas, making her massive return to Indian cinema as Mandakini.

She recently described the film as a time-travel movie, but not in the way we usually see it in Hollywood. It is not like you are sitting in a machine and going into the past; it is something more spiritual and grounded in Indian culture.

The sheer ambition of filming scenes in Antarctica while simultaneously building a 100% accurate replica of the city of Kashi in Hyderabad is staggering.

Reports from the sets suggest that even the Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple has been recreated with such detail that local priests were stunned. These sets are not meant to last like the ones for Baahubali.

They are designed to be submerged and eventually taken down after filming, making every frame a piece of temporary art.

The Reality Check: Is the Industry Addicted to Part Twos?

We have to ask a hard question here. Are we seeing a genuine creative expansion, or is every filmmaker now terrified of the “one and done” model?

The success of Dhurandhar and the upcoming Ramayana trilogy has created a new gold standard.

It seems like the “1,000-crore club” is no longer the finish line; it is just the entry fee. By splitting Varanasi, Rajamouli isn’t just telling a longer story; he is creating a two-year marketing cycle that will dominate the conversation until 2028.

Is this the death of the standalone blockbuster?

It is a direct question we need to face: are we okay with paying for half a story if the spectacle is this good?

The Cast, the Cost, and the Clock

The financial stakes here are terrifying. With a budget now whispered to be over 1,200 crore, Varanasi is officially the most expensive gamble in the history of Indian cinema.

Priyanka Chopra is reportedly taking home a staggering 30 crore, making her the highest-paid actress in the country, while Prithviraj Sukumaran is playing a character named Kumbha that sources say is the “emotional anchor” of the film.

As per a report in the Times of India, the first part is locked for release on April 7, 2027.

That date is strategically placed to capture the Ram Navami audience, a move Rajamouli has used before to massive success.

The production is currently moving at a breakneck speed, with the team jumping between the high-tech studios in Hyderabad and international locations. They are racing against time to ensure that the visual effects for the asteroid sequence meet the “Rajamouli standard,” which we all know is impossibly high.

Gulshan’s Take

Listen, I’ve been tracking Rajamouli since his ‘Sye’ days, and this man does not miss.

While some might say he’s just following the trend set by Aditya Dhar and the Dhurandhar franchise, I think it’s the other way around.

Rajamouli invented this modern two-part fever with Baahubali. By splitting Varanasi, he’s actually reclaiming his throne.

This is good news for us fans because it means we get more of Rudhra and Mandakini. But it’s bad news for any other movie trying to release in April 2027.

They might as well move their dates now. We are looking at a cinematic eclipse that will stay for two years.

Get your wallets ready; we are going to be living in Rajamouli’s world for a long time.

Gulshan Mishra – Journalist

Do you think splitting Varanasi into two parts is a creative necessity, or is Rajamouli just trying to break the 2,000-crore box office record? Let me know in the comments!