 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Baahubali: The Beginning released on July 10, 2015 and changed the way audiences watched Indian films.
S S Rajamouli's film broke box office records and paved the way for its sequel, Baahubali: The Conclusion, the highest Indian grosser of all time.
As the film celebrates five years of release, Joginder Tuteja lists 10 interesting facts about the blockbuster fantasy.
1. Karan Johar came on board to present the Hindi version of the film.
This was the first time a top Bollywood producer stepped in to present a Telugu film with no mainstream Bollywood actor featuring in it.
2. S S Rajamouli has quite a few blockbusters to his credit: Eega, Magadheera, Vikramarkudu.
3. The film-makers didn't spare any expense on VFX, cinematography, sets, locations or sound design.
As a result, the film's budget was one of the biggest ever for an Indian film -- it came close to a massive Rs 200 crore.
4. Recovery of such a massive investment was important, and so the film required -- and got -- one of the biggest pan-India releases ever seen.
Other than the Telugu language (and Tamil) in which it was made, the film was released in a record number of screens for its Hindi and Malayalam versions.
5. The film was loosely inspired by the Mahabharat with the characters played by Prabhas and Rana Daggubati inspired by Yudhishthir and Duryodhana respectively.
The core of the film was about the game of thrones and who was the rightful heir.
6. The introductory song -- Tamannah Khoya Hain -- had a fantasy set up to it.
That gave the impression that Baahubali: The Beginning may be a part-fantasy, part-real film, but that was not the case as the fantasy element stayed relegated to the song.
7. Baahubali: The Beginning ended on a cliffhanger where Katappa (Sathyaraja) killed Baahubali (Prabhas).
This resulted in the gripping marketing campaign for Baahubali: The Conclusion resting on the fascinating question: 'Kattappa ne Baahubali ko kyun maara?'
8. The Hindi version of Baahubali: The Beginning saw a good opening of Rs 5.15 crore.
Though it may seem low when compared to other Hindi biggies of similar scale and size, this was quite good for a dubbed version -- Rajinikanth's Robot, which had released in 2010, could take a start of just Rs 2 crore.
9. The film saw excellent word of mouth as the first day collections of Rs 5.15 crore soared to Rs 22 crore over the weekend.
The first week run stood at a fantastic Rs 45 crore collections.
10. Baahubali: The Beginning is the only film which entered the Rs 100 Crore Club despite a start of just Rs 5.15 crore.
Typically, a film that goes on to hit a century takes a start of at least Rs 10 crore.
To go from Rs 5.15 crore to Rs 117 crore has been a never-seen-before phenomenon.
