Priyanka Chopra Jonas has been lighting up big screens for nearly 25 years, but across the past decade, her focus has been on bringing South Asian representation to Hollywood as an actress and producer with projects like Quantico, Baywatch and as the lead of the Citadel cast. Her latest project, Varanasi, has Chopra Jonas returning to Indian cinema for the first time in years in a huge way. She spoke to CinemaBlend about one reason why she absolutely had to play the mysterious role of Mandakini in the globetrotting action film coming in 2027.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ One Request For Varanasi
In November, I had the opportunity to travel to Hyderabad, India where Varanasi is currently filming to learn about the film from RRR filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli. When I sat down with the main cast, i.e. Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Mahesh Babu and Prithviraj Sukumaran, we talked about a major part of the film: the music numbers. Here’s what Chopra Jonas had to say...
So, I haven't done an Indian film in like six years. So when she called me and he was like, ‘Oh, you know, this female character's really cool and you have to do it’ and whatever, I was like, ‘I have one request, will you make me dance? Please, because I haven't danced for so long… Whoa, I should not have asked, because we be dancing. Oh my gosh, there’s a lot. And poor Mahesh was like ‘It’s because of you. Because of you, I have to do it too.’
Obviously a huge element of Indian cinema that sets it apart from Hollywood in a big way is all the song-and-dance numbers, which is particularly in a Rajamouli movie when it’s done alongside massive practical action sequences and such. As Chopra Jonas joked, she wasn’t quite expecting how much dancing the movie would involve. Her co-star Babu added this:
It's sensational. And, I think one song we've already shot for it and, it just keeps playing in our minds. And [Priyanka] keeps singing it all the time. And, that song was because she wanted to dance and… And, he made her dance.
It’s one thing to learn some dance moves, but Chopra Jonas and the Varanasi cast do so on top of doing a lot of their own stunts for Rajamouli’s massive vision, which promises to not only transport audiences around the world, but throughout long stretches of time as well. The title of the movie is named after India's spiritual capital.
What Else We Know About Varanasi’s Music
As has been the case with all of Rajamouli’s movies thus far, including Oscar-winning original song “Naatu Naatu,” M. M. Keeravani is scoring Varanasi’s music, with the composer confirming to India Times in November that the movie will have six songs. When I asked Rajamouli if he thinks there’s a song in Varanasi that will rival “Naatu Naatu”, he had this to say:
We might not have a song that rivals ‘Naatu Naatu’ But, we will have elements, we'll have songs and we'll have sequences which RRR cannot rival. So both films are different.
Varanasi is being shot for IMAX, and is reportedly one of the most expensive films ever to come from India following RRR becoming a global sensation for audiences around the world, particularly on Netflix. You can look forward to Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ return to Indian movies when Varanasi comes out around the world on April 7, 2027. Check back here on CinemaBlend for more from our exclusive Varanasi interviews.
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