'I was hesitant': Mahesh Babu on 'intimidating' African jungle shoot with Priyanka Chopra for SS Rajamouli’s epic 'Varanasi'

Tollywood superstar Mahesh Babu is currently working on one of the biggest films of his career with SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘Varanasi’. The movie will be a jungle adventure thriller which will include sequences from various parts of the world including one in Africa. Recently, the actor shared his experience shooting in the middle of animals.

Team shooting amid wild animals in Africa

During an interview with Discussing Film, Mahesh Babu shared that it felt intimidating with all those wild animals. He called his experience something he will never forget. "It's something I will never forget. The first day of shooting in Africa right in the middle of these animals, we had to get down from this vehicles and had to walk. I usually lead from the front, but on that particular day I was a bit hesitant. There were these walkie-talkies, and I could hear (Rajamouli) sir's voice saying, 'PC (Priyanka Chopra) I want you to walk (in) front,' and I was like... yes," he said.




Mahesh Babu also talked about being in the middle of the wildlands, as he said, “It was a bit intimidating with all those wild animals but after 5 or 10 minutes you wouldn’t see the cameras, you wouldn’t see anybody. It's just us in the middle of the wildlands.”

Mahesh Babu calls it a dream project

The teaser and title of the film were released in November 2025. During the GlobeTrotter event, Mahesh Babu’s character was revealed. While speaking at the event, he said, "This is a dream project, a once-in-a-lifetime project. I will work as hard for it as possible. I will make everyone proud. Most importantly, I'll make my director the most proud. When Varanasi releases, India will be proud of us," he said.

‘Varanasi’ features Mahesh Babu as Rudra and includes Priyanka Chopra as the female lead, Mandakini. Additionally, Prithviraj Sukumaran is playing the villain as Kumbha. It is set to release on April 7, 2027.Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”