Prithviraj Sukumaran will be playing the main villain in the upcoming SS Rajamouli’s ‘Varanasi’ starring Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra. As the film is currently in the making, the Malayalam actor shared about the interesting experience from the sets.‘Varanasi’ being a global adventure thriller helmed by the visionary ‘RRR’ director is being shot at different locations around the world. Recently Prithviraj Sukumaran revealed that during one particular scene with Mahesh Babu it took almost a day to shoot because Rajamouli was not satisfied with the result.
One shot took nearly 100 takes
Speaking about the scene, Prithviraj Sukumaran said, “This is not an exaggeration. For one particular shot in the film, Mahesh Babu and I started shooting it in the morning. I am not sure if it was take 94 or 97. We started working in the morning and came for a lunch break, because he didn’t get the shot right. Just when we thought we will have a second mouthful of food, he calls us back on set. We started again and it went on till 6.30 pm or 7 pm.”Even after so many takes, Rajamouli was still not fully happy with the shot. He asked both actors to return the next day and shoot the same scene again.Further talking about the ‘Baahubali’ director, Prithviraj Sukumaran called him “the hardest-working director” he has ever worked with. He said the filmmaker always reached the shooting location much earlier than everyone else.
Prithviraj Sukumaran reveals how early SS Rajamouli would come on set
He mentioned that when the actor would arrive for a 7 am shoot, Rajamouli had already completed several rehearsals with his assistants. He had also done the camera setup and finished the planning before the actors came to set.SS Rajamouli also told Prithviraj Sukumaran that he had been there since 5.15 am when the actor asked him. When the actor who plays Kumbha in the film offered to come earlier too, the director simply asked him to report at his scheduled call time. He also shared that Rajamouli was usually the last person to leave the set and even lunch breaks lasted only about 20 minutes.
About ‘Varanasi’
‘Varanasi’ stars Mahesh Babu as Rudhra, Priyanka Chopra as Mandakini and Prithviraj Sukumaran as the main antagonist, Kumbha, a dangerous wheelchair-bound character.The film is scheduled to release worldwide on April 7, 2027.