r/VaranasiMovie

In Athadu, Mahesh Babu's character Nandu alias Pardhu is referred to as Lord Rama in the priest episode and climax proceedings, driving the themes of God comes in human form in the overall narrative.

In Srimanthudu, Harsha (played by Babu) is literally a character copy of Lord Rama. From his background of being a rich prince of a business empire to his calm, benevolent nature, the similarities are right on the face.

In Varanasi, as we already know from the event, Mahesh is directly portraying Lord Rama himself.

Each of these connections happened 10 years apart, from Athadu in 2005 to Srimanthudu in 2015 to the Varanasi Glimpse and eventual Lord Rama announcement in the 2025 event.

In the Raiders of the lost ark and The Last Crusade movies directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg, Indiana Jones features holy artifacts and other fantastical elements from Judaism and Christianity respectively.

We know how SSR acknowledged Steven Spielberg as a great source of inspiration and also featured Raiders of the Lost Ark among his all time favourites and must watch movies. You can clearly notice the influence on Varanasi.

SSR is adapting an episode of the Ramayana to deepen the lore of the adventure and take it beyond our comprehension, and all of this is tied to the holy city of Varanasi. There's no milking of religion here just for the sake of the box office. The tale does service to the overall storytelling.

Wanda IMAX - Dongguan

I wish I had enough money to travel lol. A rough estimate, it would cost a lakh INR for entire trip

Khaleja predicted Varanasi glimpse 15 years earlier

It is well known that the River Ganga being brought to Earth from the heavens is one of the famous tales in Hinduism.

The clue to my theory is in the names too. Mandakini is also the name of the river Ganga in the heavens (also called as Akash Ganga). And that's the name of PC's character, which is obviously named purposefully. In the Manikarnika Ghat shot, if we look carefully, we can find water moving towards the sky surrounding the blue laser light.

Also, Rudhra seems to be riding the bull on a river bed as it is clear from the background details.

Movies: Athidhi (climax), Khaleja (interval), Varanasi (glimpse)

Been a fan of Bob and PC since like forever abba. It's like my manifestation of all these years is coming to life. Very very excited about em coming together for a Rajamouli movie. Bob's incredible screen presence with intensity with PC's unmatchable aura and talent. Just cannot be better than this 😭😭😭❤️❤️

Design by Santhosh Cherry

Mexico CcXp

Rajamouli completely killed Mahesh fans' hopes of seeing him as James Bond, I don't think they'll wish him for any role after seeing this abomination.

Somehow the scenes from this film fit this very well, could this mean Idly fate...

TL;DR - China is now a domestic dominated market, with the audience favouring relatable dramas and comedies as opposed to visual spectacles

So I see lots of discussions about China and the potential of the box office if Varanasi or Ramayana or whatever movie releases there. Idk where that sentiment comes from because China is just not a good market for a release.

Chinese audience's tastes have shifted. Years back, Chinese mainstream movies were chasing that Hollywood blockbuster. They put out Monkey King 1&2, Monster Hunt 1&2, etc full VFX slops that were trying to copy Hollywood. These movies were hits sure, but they were also mocked for their bad acting, bad CGI and bad plots.

But then around 2017, among the Hollywood military movie copies like Wolf Warrior 2 or CGI slops, were two comedy movies, and two extremely great drama movies - Youth and Duckweed.

And starting from there, the CGI blockbusters dominance weaned. 2018, Monster Hunt 2, the sequel to a movie that was once the highest grossing movie in China, was beaten by Detective Chinatown 2, a sequel to a comedy movie. 2019, 7 out of 10 movies in the HGOTY were dramas or comedies, one was even that Drishyam remake with that bad climax.

And now currently, Hollywood and foreign film only accounts for 9% of the entire box office. The biggest movie running right now is Dear You, an indie drama that pulls on the people's heartstrings and nostalgia. Creation of the Gods 2, a movie with Hollywood level VFX, grossed lesser than the first movie.

Here's a great video by Accented Cinema on just how this shift happened - yep, it's families.

So that's why releasing in China is not the big box office cheat code that people think it is. Dangal and Secret Superstar succeeded because the experiences were relatable to even foreign viewers and it attracted the female audience. Even Aamir couldn't replicate it.

Best would be to release another family thriller like Drishyam. Vijay Sethupathi's Maharaja was actually well reviewed and well liked in China.

He could either be playing a priest or aghori.