SS Rajamouli’s Varanasi may have an unusually well-timed opportunity when it reaches cinemas next year. Producer SS Karthikeya has teased a completely different style of action for the Mahesh Babu-led epic just as the Academy prepares to introduce its first competitive Oscar for Achievement in Stunt Design.
Asked about Varanasi in the context of the new category, Karthikeya stopped short of announcing an Oscar campaign. What he did promise was action unlike Rajamouli’s previous spectacles.
“Stunts are going to be crazy. It’s a different kind of action,” Karthikeya said, adding that viewers should not expect the same kind of set pieces seen in RRR or the Baahubali films. He said the sequences are designed to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
That “so, let’s see” response has naturally raised the Oscar question. But there is an important distinction: Karthikeya did not confirm that Varanasi is launching an Academy Awards campaign for stunt design, nor has the film been nominated for anything. At this stage, the connection is about timing, eligibility and ambition.
Varanasi arrives in exactly the right Oscar eligibility year
The Academy announced in April 2025 that Achievement in Stunt Design will debut at the 100th Academy Awards in 2028, specifically recognizing films released during 2027. The Academy also said the detailed eligibility and voting rules for the inaugural category will not be published until the complete 100th Oscars rules arrive in 2027.
That makes Varanasi particularly interesting.
Rajamouli officially announced an April 7, 2027 theatrical release, meaning the film falls within the first year covered by the new stunt award.
Eligibility based on release year, of course, is very different from actually becoming a nominee. The Academy has yet to reveal precisely how stunt-design contenders will qualify, who will vote during different stages or how many artists will ultimately receive the Oscar.
Still, the timing gives Varanasi something RRR never had: a dedicated Academy category specifically designed to recognize the kind of large-scale action craftsmanship that has become central to Rajamouli’s filmmaking.
Why the RRR and Baahubali comparison matters
Karthikeya saying the action will not resemble RRR or Baahubali is more interesting than simply promising that Varanasi will be “bigger.”
Rajamouli has already created some of Indian cinema’s most recognizable modern action sequences. The Baahubali films built their spectacle around warfare, enormous armies and heightened physical heroism, while RRR moved between hand-to-hand combat, animal-filled chaos, motorcycles, explosions and deliberately impossible feats of strength.
Varanasi appears to be working with a different playground.
The film’s officially released material presents Mahesh Babu as Rudhra, with Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Prithviraj Sukumaran also leading the cast. The project has been promoted as a globe-spanning adventure, while its imagery has moved between Varanasi, catastrophic events and different periods of time. The film’s verified promotional channel officially credits King Solomon for stunts.
Priyanka has also previously teased the physically demanding nature of the production, saying she had spent around 14 months working on the film and mentioning the action work she performed.
Taken together, those clues suggest that action is not simply being added between story scenes. It appears to be one of the film’s major creative pillars.
RRR already changed Rajamouli’s relationship with the Oscars
There is another reason the Academy angle will follow Varanasi closely: Rajamouli is no longer approaching Hollywood awards attention as an outsider.
Naatu Naatu from RRR, composed by M.M. Keeravaani with lyrics by Chandrabose, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 2023 Oscars.
That victory did not mean RRR received recognition across every category — it did not. But the film’s international campaign significantly expanded Rajamouli’s visibility among Hollywood filmmakers, critics and awards voters.
Varanasi will therefore arrive with a level of international awareness that RRR had to build after release.
The new stunt category could also be a particularly natural fit because it allows conversation around Rajamouli’s cinema to move beyond box-office scale and visual effects. Stunt design concerns how action is conceived, coordinated and executed — precisely the type of craft that can disappear when spectacular sequences are discussed only in terms of CGI.
An Oscar campaign still has to come later
For now, it would be premature to say Varanasi is “going to the Oscars.”
Karthikeya’s remarks were made after he was asked about the newly created stunt category. His answer expressed confidence in the movie’s action, not confirmation of a formal campaign. The Academy itself has not even published the final rules for the category yet.
But the pieces line up unusually well.
Varanasi releases during the inaugural eligibility year. Its producer is openly promising action unlike Rajamouli’s two most famous action franchises. Its director has already broken through at the Oscars with RRR. And the Academy has finally created a category designed to reward the very craft that may be one of the film’s biggest attractions.
Whether that leads to a nomination is a question for 2028. For now, Karthikeya has given audiences a more immediate reason to watch the action closely: Varanasi apparently is not interested in simply giving them another version of RRR or Baahubali.
