Indian Cinema’s Expensive Film Set Ever: ₹50 Cr Kashi Replica for Rajamouli’s SSMB29 Outshines Devdas, Baahubali and Heeramandi’s Entire Budget
While Indian filmmakers increasingly lean on VFX and CGI, the art of constructing grand physical sets remains alive. Some directors opt for elaborate sets to bypass logistical challenges or to capture an authenticity that digital effects can’t replicate. A forthcoming film has raised the bar with a colossal city-sized set costing ₹50 crore, marking it as the most expensive single set in Indian cinema history.
SS Rajamouli, known for his larger-than-life productions, is directing a new pan-India fantasy action-adventure, tentatively titled SSMB29, starring Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra. Part of the film is set in Varanasi, and to recreate the city’s iconic ghats and temples, Rajamouli has built a sprawling replica in Hyderabad, where filming in the real Kashi would have been logistically complex. Leaked images reveal the set’s breathtaking scale, showcasing temples and ghats against Hyderabad’s skyline. Sources confirm the set’s cost at ₹50 crore, a record-breaking figure for a single set in Indian cinema.
To grasp the magnitude of this expense, consider that Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas, once India’s costliest film, was produced entirely for less than ₹50 crore, despite its lavish sets. The SSMB29 set surpasses even that benchmark.
Other notable expensive sets include the massive indoor set for Prabhas’ The RajaSaab, described by its makers as the world’s largest, spanning 38,000 square feet and taking six months to construct, though its cost remains undisclosed. In comparison, the iconic Chandramukhi kotha in Devdas cost ₹12 crore in 2002, while films like Bajirao Mastani, Heeramandi, Baahubali, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, and Thugs of Hindostan invested ₹15-20 crore in their grandest sets. Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet also spent crores to recreate 1960s Bombay in Sri Lanka.
