  We present a general relativistic (GR) model of jet variability in active
galactic nuclei due to orbiting blobs in helical motion along a funnel or cone
shaped magnetic surface anchored to the accretion disk near the black hole.
Considering a radiation pressure driven flow in the inner region, we find that
it stabilizes the flow, yielding Lorentz factors ranging between 1.1 and 7 at
small radii for reasonable initial conditions. Assuming these as inputs,
simulated light curves (LCs) for the funnel model include Doppler and
gravitational shifts, aberration, light bending, and time delay. These LCs are
studied for quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) and the power spectral density
(PSD) shape and yield an increased amplitude ($\sim$ 12 %); a beamed portion
and a systematic phase shift with respect to that from a previous special
relativistic model. The results strongly justify implementing a realistic
magnetic surface geometry in Schwarzschild geometry to describe effects on
emission from orbital features in the jet close to the horizon radius. A power
law shaped PSD with a typical slope of $-2$ and QPOs with timescales in the
range of $(1.37 - 130.7)$ days consistent with optical variability in Blazars,
emerges from the simulations for black hole masses $M_{\bullet} = (0.5 - 5)
\times 10^8 M_{\odot}$ and initial Lorentz factors $\gamma_{jet,i} = 2 - 10$.
The models presented here can be applied to explain radio, optical, and X-ray
variability from a range of jetted sources including active galactic nuclei,
X-ray binaries and neutron stars.
