Varanasi, the next movie from celebrated Indian director S.S. Rajamouli (RRR), is shrouded in mystery. While the film won’t be released until 2027, anticipation is already absurdly high. On Nov. 15, to whet the hype appetite, Rajamouli revealed both the film’s title, a teaser trailer consisting of computer-generated concept art, and a new logline: “TimeTrotter.”
None of this reveals much about the film’s plot, per se, but fans have been reading between the lines to make some highly educated guesses about Varanasi and its trio of main characters played by Mahesh Babu, Prithviraj “Privthi” Sukumaran, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.
First, let’s cover a few of the details we do know. Rajamouli has confirmed that a major sequence of the movie will adapt part of the Ramayana, an ancient Indian myth about the life of Rama, a prince from the 7th century BCE who was also a reincarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. It’s also been confirmed that Babu will star in dual roles as both a new character named Rhudra and as Rama himself. And finally, we know from the trailer that the movie will take place in both the ancient past of 7200 BCE and the near future of 2027 (aka, the year Varanasi comes out).
With all that in mind, fans have speculated that Babu may not be the only star playing both a mythological deity and a modern hero (or villain). Let’s break down the prevailing theories about the other two lead actors in Varanasi.
Who does Prithviraj “Privthi” Sukumaran play in Varanasi?
The actor is officially set to play Kumbha, the villain of Varanasi who rides in a high-tech wheelchair kitted out with futuristic robot arms. (Chopra Jonas has called Privthi’s character “terrifying”.) However, some fans have speculated that he could also have some sort of connection to the deity Kumbhakarna, a gigantic demon who Rama defeats in Ramayana.
Notably, in some tellings of the myth, Kumbhakarna loses his limbs in the battle, which could connect thematically to the character Kumbha, who uses a wheelchair. The teaser trailer also specifically features an image of a human-sized character aiming a bow-and-arrow at a giant god, which is an image associated with the battle between Rama and Kumbhakarna.
Plus, Kumbha and Kumbhakarna are pretty similar names.
Who does Priyanka Chopra Jones play in Varanasi?
We know even less about Chopra’s character, who is called Mandakini and appears in her own poster wearing a yellow sari while shooting a gun. However, fans have focused their attention on one visual from the teaser in which the Hindu god Chhinnamasta appears in an underground cave while a woman in what appears to be a red sari falls slowly from above. (If you look carefully at the image, which is embedded at the top of this article, you can also see Rama/Rhudra hanging from a nearby stalactite.) Could this be a clue as well?
Chhinnamasta is considered to be a dangerous and violent figure in Hinduism. She represents life (both the ability to give it and take it away), along with sexual energy. Chhinnamasta is typically depicted holding her own severed head with three jets of blood flowing from her self-decapitated neck. She’s also usually nude and standing on top of a copulating couple. (All things pictured in the Varanasi teaser footage.)
What does this mean? To be quite honest, I have no idea, but it’s totally badass. Whether or not Chhinnamasta and Mandakini are directly connected in the film is unclear (their names don’t sound particularly similar either), but based on the video, there’s at least some reason to believe they might be.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
