The hype machine never sleeps. It just reloads.

We’ve been hearing about SS Rajamouli’s next project—currently codenamed SSMB29 but increasingly referred to as Varanasi—for what feels like a geological epoch. It’s the director’s follow-up to RRR, a film that turned the global box office into its personal playground and forced American critics to learn how to spell "Tollywood." Now, Prakash Raj has decided to drop a few crumbs about his role in this globe-trotting jungle adventure.

Don't expect a full map, though. In the world of Rajamouli, a "major update" is usually just a polite way of saying the actors are still alive and the budget hasn't yet triggered a national debt crisis.

Prakash Raj, the veteran who’s played everything from the menacing villain to the grumpy-but-lovable father, recently shared that his character isn't just a background fixture. He’s central. He’s part of the "core soul" of the story. If that sounds vague, that’s because it is. It’s the kind of PR-approved ambiguity that keeps the fans tweeting while saying absolutely nothing about the actual plot. We know Mahesh Babu is playing a character inspired by Hanuman—an Indiana Jones-type figure with a spiritual backbone. We know it involves treasure, ancient secrets, and enough CGI to make James Cameron sweat.

But here’s the friction. Rajamouli’s process isn't a production; it's a hostage situation. He demands years. Not months. Years. Mahesh Babu, a man whose face is literally a currency in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, has effectively vanished from other projects to commit to this. The trade-off is simple but brutal: you get the chance to be a global icon, but you have to stop being an active actor for half a decade. Prakash Raj, who usually juggles five films at once, is now being sucked into that same vortex of perfectionism.

The price tag is equally absurd. Rumors place the budget north of $100 million. In the context of Indian cinema, that’s not just a big swing; it’s a gamble on the very idea of the theatrical experience. They’re reportedly using the same virtual production tech—essentially giant LED screens called "The Volume"—that Disney uses for The Mandalorian. Except Rajamouli doesn't use tech to save money. He uses it to build things that shouldn't exist. He’s trying to merge the grit of Varanasi’s ancient alleys with the high-octane polish of a Bond film.

It’s a strange marriage. On one hand, you have the spiritual weight of a city that has been burning its dead for millennia. On the other, you have a superstar who spent the last decade playing it safe in polished social dramas. Prakash Raj is the bridge here. He brings the acting chops to ensure the movie doesn't just turn into a very expensive screensaver. He’s the guy who can sell a line of dialogue about ancient curses while standing in front of a green screen in a warehouse in Hyderabad.

But let’s be real. The "update" isn’t for the sake of the story. It’s for the shareholders of the attention economy. In an era where streamers are tightening their belts and the "Marvel fatigue" is a documented medical condition, Varanasi is being positioned as the next big dopamine hit. The problem with being "the next big thing" is that the fall is a lot longer if the pixels don't align.

Rajamouli’s track record is spotless, sure. Baahubali and RRR proved he can balance spectacle with the kind of earnest, heart-on-sleeve melodrama that Hollywood forgot how to make in the 90s. But the stakes are different now. He’s not just competing with other Indian films; he’s competing with the entire history of the action genre. Prakash Raj’s involvement suggests a return to the character-driven stakes of Eega, which is a good sign. It means there’s a human element inside the machine.

Still, you have to wonder about the toll. Mahesh Babu has already undergone a massive physical overhaul. He looks like he’s been carved out of granite and fed nothing but protein shakes and ambition. Prakash Raj is talking about "intensity" and "scale." It’s all very impressive until you remember we still don't have a release date. We don't even have a teaser. We just have actors giving interviews about how hard they're working.

The industry loves to talk about these projects as if they’re cultural milestones before a single frame has been edited. They’re products first, myths second. If Varanasi hits, it’ll be because Rajamouli found a way to make the ancient feel modern without losing the dirt under its fingernails. If it misses, it’ll be a very expensive lesson in the limits of the superstar system.

Prakash Raj says his character will surprise us. Given the three-year wait, he’d better be right.

I wonder if anyone told the actors that by the time this movie actually comes out, the AI they’re using to de-age them might already be the one writing the sequels.