Director vs. Star: The Battle for Creative Ownership of ‘Varanasi’

Should Varanasi (to be released in theatres on April 7, 2027) be called Rajamouli's Varanasi or Mahesh Babu's Varanasi? This dilemma has taken the form of hashtag wars on social media. Should Varanasi be called #SSMB29 (Superstar Mahesh Babu's 29th movie) or #SSR13 (SS Rajamouli's 13th movie)?

Baahubali producer Shobu Yarlagadda has tried to bring a closure to the debate by talking about the concept of "possessory credit". He wrote that a possessory credit (written as, say, a Mani Ratnam movie) is a high-level attribution that grants primary artistic authorship of a film to a single person, typically the director. Yarlagadda further wrote, "It is distinct from the standard 'Directed by' credit because it implies the film is a personal product of that individual's unique creative vision. It serves as a form of 'artistic branding', signaling to audiences that the movie will feature the specific style, themes, and 'creative fingerprint' associated with that filmmaker."