Supportive wife Namrata Shirodkar cheers as Varanasi star Mahesh Babu is called ‘biggest actor’ of Telugu cinema

At the recently held CCXP in Mexico, Mahesh Babu was praised on a panel for SS Rajamouli's Varanasi. Namrata Shirodkar couldn't have been prouder.

Recently, team Varanasi held a major promotional panel at CCXP Mexico 2026. Producer SS Karthikeya presented exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and the Varanasi to the World video at the event. The film’s lead star, Mahesh Babu, was called the ‘biggest star’ in Telugu cinema at the event, and his wife, former actor and model Namrata Shirodkar, couldn’t be prouder.

Namrata Shirodkar and Mahesh Babu have been married for over 21 years.

Namrata Shirodkar proud of Mahesh Babu

At CCXP, the anchor hosting Karthikeya said, “Mahesh Babu, for those who don’t know, is one of, if not the biggest actor in Telugu cinema. Tollywood, specifically. And it’s fair to say SS Rajamouli is one of, if not the biggest filmmaker, in Indian cinema as a whole. And this is the first time that these two are working together.”

Talking further about the film, the host added, “And when I talked to SSR during our interview, which you can now watch on Screen Rant’s YouTube, I asked him how long this has been in the works for, and it had been like a decade. It had been a long time of trying to get schedules aligned, trying to figure out the right project for them to collaborate on.”

“The homecoming of one of the biggest movie stars in Indian cinema history, as well as one of the biggest Indian stars, but specifically action. Mahesh Babu has done so much great action films along with India’s biggest revolutionary filmmaker working today,” he added later. Namrata re-shared the video posted by a fan on her Instagram stories with red hearts and clapping emojis, clearly proud of her husband.

Namrata Shirodkar is proud of Mahesh Babu.

About Varanasi

Talking at the CCXP panel, Karthikeya said, “The story begins and revolves and ends in Varanasi, the holy city of India, called the spiritual capital of India. It’s one of the oldest cities to be built and still inhabited. And obviously, our director, Mr SS Rajamouli, had a vision of some breathtaking sequences in the ghats of Varanasi. Which, practically, couldn’t have been possibly executed there. As producers, our responsibility is to make that happen. We sent our production design team to Varanasi to get all the possible measurements, pictures, and references. To get his vision come true, we built the Varanasi ghats brick by brick.”

Varanasi is an epic action-adventure film directed by Rajamouli, co-written by V Vijayendra Prasad and SS Kanchi, and produced by Sri Durga Arts and Showing Business. The film stars Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran in lead roles as Rudhra, Mandakini and Kumbha. There are high expectations for the film as it’s Rajamouli’s next after the blockbuster RRR (2022). It is scheduled to release on April 7, 2027, for Ugadi.