‘Bahubali’: India’s Most Expensive Film Arrives In Cinemas

The most expensive film ever made in India, Bahubali (Strong Man), is in cinemas now. Directed by S.S. Rajamouli, the Southern Indian film has an estimated cost of $39 million.

Bahubali is an epic battle film made in a two-part series. The first part of the movie hit the theaters on July 10. The date for the release of the second part remains unknown.

Bahubali has generated a lot of interest amongst both movie lovers and critics alike. Everyone is making comparisons between Bahubali and the fantasy war film 300.

In fact, Bahubali earned a higher rating on IMDb than 300. While 300 has a rating of 7.8, Bahubali’s rating comes in at an outstanding 9.5. All ratings are out of 10.

S.S. Rajamouli has claimed that any similarities between Bahubali and 300 are purely coincidental.

Bahubali is the story of a prince who gets smuggled out of his kingdom. He eventually returns to reclaim his position but has to fight an epic battle against a murderous enemy along the way to save the kingdom.

The Bahubali features superstars like Anushka Shetty, Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah, and Prabhas. Before the release of Bahubali, Ra.One was India’s most expensive film ever made at $27.4 million.

He said that “the emotions are very basic and hard-hitting, so it will appeal to everyone.”

The shooting of the Bahubali took place in Ramoji studios, Hyderabad. Bahubali will be available in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam. According to producers, Bahubali has the potential to work well in all language markets within India itself.

Movies from Southern India are usually not as well-known as the ones produced in North India by Bollywood. However, trailer views for Bahubali have surpassed over one million.

On Facebook, trailer views crossed over 1.5 million along with 200,000 shares and 300,000 likes.

The original plan for the Bahubali trailer launch of the movie was to do it in front of 30,000 fans at a Hyderabad sports stadium. The massive scale of the plan compelled the police to order its dismissal due to legitimate law-and-order concerns.

Rajamouli, famous for being a perfectionist, spent more than a year doing pre-production work for the Bahubali. He owes the inspiration for the movie to his life-long love for mythology and epics.

It was Rajamouli’s long-held dream to make a movie like Bahubali — a dream that has now finally come true.

[Photo: Official Bahubali Film Poster, courtesy of Arka Media Works]