SS Rajamouli’s SSMB 29 with Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra pegged at Rs 1,188 crore budget, Kenya shoot wraps

SSMB 29

SS Rajamouli is putting together one of the biggest films Indian cinema has ever seen. His upcoming project, tentatively titled SSMB 29, has Mahesh Babu in the lead, with Priyanka Chopra and Prithviraj Sukumaran also part of the cast. And if fresh reports are to be believed, the film’s budget is a staggering $135 million (Rs 1,188 crore).

A Kenyan news outlet, The Star, reported this week that Rajamouli wrapped up an extensive shoot in the country and met with Musalia Mudavadi, Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign & Diaspora Affairs.

The portal described SSMB 29 as “one of the largest film productions in Asian cinema history.” Interestingly, an earlier estimate in July by The Citizen had pegged the budget slightly lower at $116 million.

Mudavadi himself confirmed the film’s massive scale in a social media post. “Kenya this past fortnight became the stage for one of the world’s greatest filmmakers, @ssrajamouli,” he wrote, revealing that nearly 95% of the film’s African sequences were shot there. The crew, about 120 strong, covered iconic locations like the Masai Mara, Naivasha, Samburu, and Amboseli.

Calling it Asia’s largest production, Mudavadi praised the filmmaker’s choice: “This landmark decision to film in Kenya is more than a cinematic milestone, it is a powerful statement about our country’s beauty, hospitality, and place on the world stage.”

The film isn’t just aiming big with production. Rajamouli’s team is reportedly planning a global release in 120 countries, hoping to reach more than a billion viewers.

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SSMB 29 kicked off earlier this year with a muhurat puja, followed by shoots in Odisha and Hyderabad. Despite tight security, a few on-set leaks made it online. On Mahesh Babu’s birthday in August, Rajamouli teased fans with a poster calling the film a “globetrotter,” fueling speculation about its title.

For now, the Kenya schedule is done, and the team is back in India. More official updates are expected in November.