Baahubali (styled as bāhubaLi) is an Indian Telugu-language media franchise created by S. S. Rajamouli and owned by Arka Media Works. The Telugu language franchise started off with a two-part film series directed by Rajamouli. The franchise is widely regarded as the most important and influential films in the history of Indian cinema.
The duology made a lasting impact and started a new film movement, pan-Indian film. The films in the franchise were jointly produced on a budget of 430 crore ($65 million). The first part Baahubali: The Beginning was released on 10 July 2015. The second part Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, released on 28 April 2017; which became the highest-grossing films in India of all time. The franchise became a commercial success, grossing over 2,400 crore worldwide. Both of the films received widespread critical acclaim in India and also worldwide. The duology of the franchise is currently the third highest-grossing film franchise in India.
The films were followed by two animated series, a graphic novel, and a trilogy of novels in English. The first novel in the franchise titled The Rise of Sivagami was released on 7 March 2017. The animated series Baahubali: The Lost Legends premiered on 19 April 2017 on Amazon Prime Video and Colors TV on 10 December 2017.
Production Development
In February 2011, S. S. Rajamouli announced that his next film would star Telugu actor Prabhas. In January 2013, he announced that the working title was Baahubali, though it would later be finalised. P. M. Satheesh stated that much effort was taken to keep the recording free of anachronistic sounds of modern machinery. Prabhas, Rana and Anushka practiced sword fighting, while Prabhas and Rana learned horse riding. It was later decided to make it a two part film which would release by 2015. On why the film was split into two parts, Rajamouli said, "The story, about two warring brothers for a kingdom, is so big that one film is not enough. We tried but we were losing some of the emotional quotient hence the second release after a gap of 10 months." Tamil lyricist Madhan Karky was selected to write the dialogues for the Tamil version. He said that his dialogues would be along the lines of yesteryear epic historical movies like Manohara (1954) and Nadodi Mannan (1958) and that they would be in chaste Tamil. The film's action sequences were choreographed by Peter Hein who stated that efforts were being made to keep the visuals as a period film. For a particular action sequence, Peter Hein had to handle around 2000 stuntmen and elephants. K. K. Senthil Kumar was selected to handle the film's cinematography. Director S.S.Rajamouli said that he was inspired from epic Mahabharata in making Baahubali. The story of Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali: The Conclusion is set in Mahishmati kingdom.
Sodhe Matha sent legal notices to the film's producers in early January 2014 about the film's title Baahubali which is the name of a revered Arihant in Jainism, Bahubali, as they were afraid that the film would portray his story in a violent manner. Days later, Sobhu Yarlagadda defended the story of the film saying "The film has nothing to do with Gomatheswara or the Jain religion. The story is completely fictional written by Vijayendra Prasad and will remain so. 'Baahubali' refers to the amount of power the protagonist possesses." He also clarified that they haven't received the legal notice yet. In June 2015, Rajamouli remarked on the setting and backdrop of the film this way:"The movie is set in a completely fictitious world and period, and I decided that I would design my own weapons and costumes whichever way I liked. People will buy into the film depending on how I present it."The story is however similar in the manner that its about two brothers fighting for rights of a kingdom where the more powerful Bahubali lets go of the kingdom for his less powerful brother Bharata Chakravartin.
The creators were accused of copying the format and the idea of the "making video" from The Amazing Videohivers, a 123 seconds video clip, created by an Australian firm, which specializes in providing video templates for internet marketing. The video, which uses Adobe After Effects CS5 having a customizable template, depicts how film makers can use the video template to market their products. Regarding the issue, Shobhu Yarlagadda clarified "We have commercially purchased the template used in that video. We have licensed it legally. Anyone can license that template and it is not copying. We felt that the template is ideal for our video and hence we paid for it." Baahubalis first poster was released in early May 2015. The poster, which showed an infant being lifted from a waterbody by a woman's hand, was criticised for its lack of originality; Deccan Chronicle noted its similarities to the poster of the 1998 American film Simon Birch, commenting, "The Baahubali poster shows a woman's hand raising an infant from a river; the Hollywood film's poster shows an infant being raised by two hands from water. The image seems to be the same with one difference, the Baahubali poster's baby is seen in typical Indian attire."
P. M. Satheesh was the sound designer of the film. Regarding his experience with the film, he said "Baahubali is one of the very few films in South where a lot of importance is being given to sound recording. We dropped the idea of shooting with sync sound since the dialogue delivery has to be modified accordingly. The sound design team embeds various types of microphones throughout the set to record the ambient sound, which will lend a natural feel to the film. It's necessary, because some of these sounds aren't available in the market. It's quite a challenge for everyone". Sabu Cyril was the production designer of the film. In an interview with The Times of India, he said "Every hour is a challenge on the sets of Baahubali. Period films are a huge responsibility as there is no room for mistakes. Everything was created from scrap : chairs, thrones, palaces, swords, armor and costumes." Foley Artiste Philipe Van Leer started working with the film's crew from 5 November 2014 till 14 November 2014 at Dame Blanche complex in Belgium. Rana stated that the film is about a war between two cousin brothers – Baahubali played by Prabhas and Bhallaladeva played by Rana – for the kingdom of Mahishmati.
Casting Prabhas was cast as main lead of the film. Anushka Shetty was cast as the heroine of the film as Rajamouli was impressed by her performances in Arundhati (2009) and Mirchi (2013). She starred in Rajamouli's Vikramarkudu, and coincidentally became the first heroine Rajamouli repeated in his films and thus made her schedules full for 2013 and 2014. Telugu actor Rana Daggubati was recruited as the antagonist of the film. Tamil actor Sathyaraj, who played Prabhas's father in Mirchi, signed the film.
Kannada actor Sudeep was picked for a small but important role in the film. He shot for four days in July 2013 for the film and had to fight with Sathyaraj in a stunt sequence choreographed by Peter Hein. In April 2013, Adivi Sesh was cast for a crucial role in the film as Rajamouli was impressed by his work in the Panjaa (2011). Actress Ramya Krishna was chosen to play the crucial role in the film as Rajamatha in August 2013. Actor Nassar was selected to play a supporting role. On 11 December 2013, a press release stated that Charandeep is selected for one of the negative characters in the film. On 20 December 2013 a press release stated that Tamannaah Bhatia will be second heroine of the film which marks her first collaboration with Rajamouli and second collaboration with Prabhas. Meka Ramakrishna was picked for the head of kuntala guerilla rebels.
Characters and looks
Rana Daggubati was said to be playing the role of Prabhas' brother and he too underwent a lot of physical transformation for the role he was assigned to play in the film. He also underwent training in Martial arts under the supervision of a Vietnamese trainer, Tuan. Sathyaraj has a tonsured look for his role in the film. Sudeep said that he would play the role of a weapons trader Aslam Khan in this film. At the end of October 2013, Rana appeared at a fashion show with a beefed up body which, according to him, was a part of his look in the film. In mid-May 2014, reports emerged that Anushka would play a pregnant woman for a few sequences in the second part of the film. Both Prabhas and Rana maintained long hair for both films.
At the same time, Prabhas posted in his Facebook page that he underwent a minor shoulder surgery and would join the film's sets in a span of a month. On 1 June 2014, Prabhas and Rana's trainer Lakshman Reddy, said that Prabhas started his training 8 months before the commencement of shooting and after two years, both of them weighed nearly 100 kilos each. He also added that Prabhas has two attires with a heavy, bulky body for Baahubali's role and a lean physique for the second role. For his look, Prabhas met WWE superstars like The Undertaker in February 2014 and interacted with them about their daily regimen and workouts.
Prabhas had equipment costing 15 million( 15 million) shipped to his home, where he built a personal gym. His breakfast included 40 half boiled egg whites blended and added with protein powder. In mid-June 2014, regarding her role in the film, Tamannaah said that she would be playing the role of a warrior princess named Avanthika and her appearance in the film is completely different when compared to her past films. Before joining the film's shoot, Tamannaah did costume trials for the film which she confirmed in her micro-blogging page stating "I am very excited to get on to the set of Baahubali. I did some dress trials today and my look in this movie will be totally new. I have never been seen in such sort of a look till now. It will be a new role for me." Rajamouli called Tamannaah and her characterization as a "value addition" to the movie. She stated that she plays Avanthika, and had a special training and diet regime. The film introduced a new language called Kilikili.
Filming
The shooting of the film started at Rock Gardens in Kurnool from 6 July 2013. At the end of August 2013, the film's shoot continued at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad where key scenes on the lead cast were shot. The second schedule of the film ended on 29 August 2013. A new schedule started at Hyderabad on 17 October 2013. At the end of October 2013, the maize field specifically cultivated at Ramoji Film City for filming of few crucial sequences was destroyed by rains just a week before the start of the planned shoot there. The film's shoot again continued in Kurnool in November 2013 but the schedule ended abruptly due to incessant rains. Despite taking required measures, the film's crew could not control the people and around 30 thousand people reached the spot. After they were pacified by Prabhas and Rana, Rajamouli stood on the center stage and asked all of them to scream Jai Baahubali in sync. The entire incident was captured by the sound department so that it can be used in the film's final cut to create the right ambient sound in some crucial scenes. After that, the film's unit traveled to Kerala for their next schedule. The Kerala schedule started on 14 November 2013.