SS Rajamouli-Mahesh Babu's 'Varanasi' to release in 50 languages
What's the story
SS Rajamouli is leaving no stone unturned for the global release of his upcoming film Varanasi, starring Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The director has reportedly decided to dub the film in around 50 languages and release it across 120 countries. To ensure that the performances of Babu, Chopra Jonas, and Prithviraj Sukumaran retain their emotional depth in every language, he will use voice artists instead of AI-generated or synthetic voices.
Dubbing process
Why is dubbing so important to Rajamouli?
According to a report by Mid-Day, Rajamouli is keen on ensuring that the "performance doesn't get diluted when the film moves from one language to another."
The report stated, "For him, dubbing is not just about translating the dialogue and matching the lip movements. The voice has to carry the emotion, personality, and intent of the character."
The epic will be released in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam, Japanese, French, Spanish, German, Arabic, Korean, and others.
Global rollout
Rajamouli goes global with 'Varanasi'
The report added, "Rajamouli wants the audience in every market to experience the performance, not just know the dialogue."
As part of this rigorous process, Rajamouli's team will sample the work of over 1,500 artists before finalizing the voices for each language version.
Varanasi is set to become only the second Indian film after Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan (2023) to release in over 120 countries.
The film will hit theaters on April 7, 2027.