So what's the fuss with Bahubali? Why is there so much buzz around the film? And why the heck is Karan Johar keen in putting his money behind a South Indian film? Has he gone crazy? These thoughts must be circling through your mind if you are a Bollywood movie goer and have accidentally stumbled upon Bahubali.
In fact, majority of movie goers in India are still not aware of the phenomenon that Bahubali is. So today, here I am to throw some light on why Bahubali is the next big thing in Indian cinema. And I promise that I won't exaggerate or glorify the film. I will just state the details and let the facts around the film do the talking.
Director: SS Rajamouli.
He is the same guy who made heads turn in Bollywood with Makkhi, the Hindi dubbed version of Eega. Through Makkhi, Rajamouli proved that he is a filmmaker with immense imagination and is one of those directors who focus on detailing, not compromising with the quality of the film. His 2007 blockbuster Magadheera is being remade by Sajid Nadiadwala with Shahid Kapoor in the lead.
Star cast: Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia
Apart from Rana Daggubati,who starred in Dum Maro Dum and Baby, and Tamannaah Bhatia, that girl from Humshakals and Himmatwala, Bollywood is not aware of Prabhas and Anushka Shetty. While the hero Prabhas has massive fan following in Andhra and Telangana, Anushka Shetty is one of the top heroines in South, who is widely popular in Tamil and Telugu film industries.
What is about: It is said to be a fictional story about wars of kingdoms, which includes the protagonist with immense muscle power. Hence, the name Bahubali was finalised for the title.
Budget: Rs 195 crore
Bahubali is said to be India's most costliest film with over Rs 195 crore spent to bring the fictional period drama into life. Now that's a huge enough figure to be ignored.
Release date: July 1o, 2015
There is so much content in the film that the final cut of Bahubali was supposedly 5 hours long. This forced the makers to release the film in two parts. The first part, Bahubali: The Beginning is slated to release on July 10, 2015.
Shooting: July 3, 2013 to April 7, 2015
Yes, that's right. It took two years for SS Rajamouli and his team to shoot the film. The amount of hard work put up by the Bahubali team is nothing short of commendable. The film has been shot in various locations such as Rock gardens in Kurnool, Athirappilly falls in Thrissur, Mahabaleshwar and Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad.
Here are few problems which SS Rajamouli and his team had to deal with:
- Prabhas' injury had halted the shoot of Bahubali abruptly. The actor had apparently injured his shoulder badly while shooting for the film and had to undergo a minor surgery. So until, Prabhas recovered from surgery, Bahubali was on standby mode.
- Not ready to comprise with the quality of the film, Rajamouli had to push the release date of his film further. The first part was supposed to release on May 15, 2015. But 17 VFX studios with 600 artists working on Bahubali on double shifts could not make it on time.
- Earlier the budget of the film was said to be Rs 100 crore. But when shooting of the film reached midway, it was evident that the budget allocated won't suffice. Soon, the budget was raised to Rs 150 crore. While filming war sequences, Rajamouli found himself short of budget and soon more money was allocated. In the end, Bahubali is said to be made on Rs 195 crore.
- The film courted legal trouble when Jain monks protested against the film as the title of the flick Bahubali is also the name of a deity, who is worshipped as Lord Gomateshwara. The Jain Mutts were worried that makers will show the peace loving God in a violent way. Soon, it was made clear that Bahubali had nothing to do with Gomateshwara and is in fact a fictional story of a protagonist with extremely powerful hands.
Conceptualising Bahubali: Rajamouli released a making video to showcase what went behind the scenes while visualising the film. The making video takes you on a tour behind the camera revealing how sharp minds led by director SS Rajamouli visualised every minute detail of the film. The video shows how grand sets of palaces, courtyards and battle grounds were first put to paper in the form of sketches, later to be made into massive breath taking sets. Everything from the look of the characters to their costumes to their thrones were visualised on a piece of paper and later using CGI effects, were put to life.
#WewantBaahubalitrailer:
Impatient fans started a campaign on Twitter, making the hashtag #WewantBaahubalitrailer, literally hounding Rajamouli on Twitter to release the trailer. This goes to show the amount of craze surrounding the film
In short, Bahubali is going to be an epic film, which can give any period film till date a run for its money. It will not just mint money in Tollywood and Kollywood, but will also leave the Bollywood movie buffs in awe. If you don't believe my word, wait till May 31, when the trailer of Bahubali will be unveiled.
