I visited the set of S.S. Rajamouli's epic new movie Varanasi, and it blew my mind

The RRR director built an entire ancient city in downtown Hyderabad, India

If you visit the set of Varanasi, the next film from RRR director S.S. Rajamouli, you’ll see the same thing.

Tucked away on an empty plot of land in the center of Hyderabad’s bustling business district, a massive replica of the holy city has been built to be the primary location of the director’s next movie. Varanasi takes place across multiple timelines, including the present day and the year 512 CE. (A large segment of the film also adapts The Ramayan, a popular Hindu epic set all the way back in 7200 BCE.)

Ratneshwar Mahadev Mandir was completed in the 19th century, meaning it didn’t exist in 512 CE (let alone 7200 BCE), but for at least some of the movie, the entire temple needs to exist above ground like it did in the 19th century.

Does this mean Varanasi is a time-travel movie, as many have speculated? Not quite, says Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who stars as Mandakini in the film.

"It's not like you're sitting in a machine and going into — it's not Back to the Future," Chopra Jonas tells Polygon. "But we do go from 7,200 BCE to 2027. So you travel worlds and realms that our characters move within, which makes it really interesting. So it is a time-travel movie."

An ordinary filmmaker might build two swappable sets, or use CGI. (Or at least shoot the scenes where the temple is above ground first and then sink it.) But Rajamouli is no ordinary director. Instead, he had his team build an actual full-sized temple, then bury it underground for the present-day scenes. When he films the earlier timeline, they’ll need to lift the entire structure out of the earth and restore it to its original glory.

Last November, Polygon visited the set of Varanasi. While no filming took place on the day of the visit, we got an up-close look at the main location for Rajamouli’s highly anticipated new film — and the meticulous work that goes into bringing his vision to life.

At the base of the set, which spans the length of a city block, a set of crumbling stone steps meets the Ganges, which special effects artists will add later on. (A couple of backyard-pool-sized water tanks sit at the base for filming specific, river-centric sequences.) From there, the structure rises upward into a large, bustling plaza full of shrines and food stands. Behind that sits a row of old buildings to complete the scene.

Even up close, it looks and feels real. The entire set is sturdy enough to walk on, even the parts that will never appear on camera. Nothing is just for show. This faux cityscape isn't just a series of two-dimensional facades, like so many movie sets. The buildings have actual interiors — Rajamouli’s on-set office is even located inside one of them.

The majority of Varanasi is being filmed in this artificial city. In its modern form, old bicycles and a small tea shop fill the main space. On one wall, the set’s designers hang recent photos from a scouting visit to the actual city to inspire their set designs.

A few days later, I show the pictures I took during my set visit to an Indian film expert, a friend of a friend I'm visiting in New Delhi. She nods approvingly: “They did a good job.”

Rajamouli and his team do face one major issue. When they first picked the location for their Varanasi set, it was a relatively quiet area with no surrounding buildings, perfect for a top-secret film production. But the pace of development moves quickly in Hyderabad. By the time I visit the set, multiple new office and apartment buildings have gone up across the street. Anyone with access to those buildings could easily look out a window, snap a few photos of the production, and spoil the movie.

“I’m very worried,” Rajamouli tells Polygon. “It's a huge job to constantly secure your production from prying eyes and all that. We would rather concentrate on the creative job, not the security job, but that's how it is. We have to do both, and we will do both.”

One other small snag. While the set of Rajamouli’s previous film, Baahubali, was filmed at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad and remains intact and open to visitors, that unfortunately won’t be the case with Varanasi. The production is merely renting this plot of land, and they plan to demolish the sprawling set once filming is complete.

“No, we won't be able to keep it,” Rajamouli says.

Varanasi releases in theaters worldwide on April 7, 2027.

Disclosure: This article is based on a press event held in India. Sri Durga Arts provided Polygon’s travel and accommodations for the event. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.