Mahesh Babu as Lord Rama
Rajamouli shared that he wasn’t sure whether Mahesh Babu looks apt for the role of Lord Rama. Instead, he believes that the superstar has more traits that suit Lord Krishna. But before commencing Varanasi film shooting, he did a test shoot with Mahesh for the role of Rama. “Even when I started this film (Varanasi), I never thought that I’d touch a chapter related to Ramayana,” the director shares, adding that as he kept developing the story he felt like he was cloud nine. He said, “The first day when I was doing a photo shoot session with Mahesh Babu as Lord Rama, I had goosebumps.” The director further revealed that he had kept Mahesh’s Lord Rama photo as his mobile wallpaper. He concluded, “But later I deleted it because someone may see it”.
“Luck to have shot a Ramayana episode”
Rajamouli further shares that working for the film Varanasi has been a liberating experience. The taskmaster recalls shooting for an intense action episode that lasts approximately around 30 minutes. The action episode was shot for 60 days and the unit completed it recently. Rajamouli said, “Shooting for the episode every day was a challenge. There are many sub episodes as part of the main episode, and every sub episode needs to be interesting, engaging and creative. Thankfully, it came nicely. And that sequence will be one of my memorable episodes not only in my career but also in Mahesh’s career.” Elaborating on Mahesh’s screen presence in that episode, the director said, “He looks handsome yet furious; generous yet enraged. Mahesh showed all the navarasas as Lord Rama. I am so lucky to have shot this episode.”
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