In an interview with a Hollywood reporter, S. S. Rajamouli said that he had the audacity to build a massive screen because such screens are not available in India.
He pointed out that India does not have screens of that scale, so he built a 100 × 130-foot screen to release the teaser of his film set in Varanasi. He implied that this film should be watched on such a screen to experience it fully.
Immediately, the interviewer asked Rajamouli, “Do you think by 2027 we will see 1.43:1 (IMAX’s tallest format) screen in India?”
To this, Rajamouli replied that he would stage a dharna in front of IMAX headquarters in Los Angeles and demand such large screens for India.
In reality, even in the United States, screens of that size are not widely available. Expecting such massive screens to appear in large numbers in India by 2027 is also audacious. However, if Rajamouli manages to make it happen, he would certainly be hailed for it.
Rajamouli is known for creating wonder, not only through content but also through marketing.
However, the biggest challenge lies in placing the audience into a trance of wonder. That wonder emerges only when something unseen, unknown, and unexperienced comes into view.
So far, based on the content shown in the teaser of Varanasi, only a learned audience seems curious about the possible connection between Africa, Antarctica, Chhinnamasta Devi, Varanasi, and the Ramayana era. For the rest, it feels more confusing than wondrous, placing it somewhere between curiosity and confusion.
To deliver an out-of-the-box experience, Rajamouli is pitching the need for highly immersive mega-sized screens. However, if the content itself is truly a wonder and compelling, audiences can feel the same high even on existing normal multiplex screens.