An eerie silence welcomes one to a quarry off the Nehru Outer Ring Road encircling the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Sporadic bursts of “action!” and “camera roll” echo in the air.
Clad in tattered black clothes, with charcoal tint on their faces and swords in their hands, at least 100 men lie ‘dead’ on the rocky ground. A few metres away, in muddied but regal attire, two men stand hugging on an eight-feet ‘cliff’. Clinging on to a rope tied around their hips, animus writ large on their faces, the two jump off the cliff.
“Cut,” shouts the director.
A muscular youth and a tall, bald, bearded man rise from an air-bed spread on the floor, beaming. A round of applause from the crew shatters the silence. That’s Kattappa (Sathyaraj) and Baahubali (Prabhas) for starters.
The answer to the big question—“Why Kattappa killed Baahubali?”—that haunted film lovers since July 2015 is all set to be unspooled on April 28. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion has already cast its spell on its fandom.
“We are wrapping up the shoot,” director S.S. Rajamouli tells THE WEEK. “Graphics and post-production works are being finalised.”
The Conclusion is expected to be much bigger in terms of grandeur than The Beginning, which was an epic fantasy with visual effects that drew comparison to Hollywood films.
“I have said this many times and I will say this again—Baahubali is probably the proudest Indian film ever made,” said Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar, who was the chief guest at The Conclusion’s audio launch at Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad, on March 26. “To say that Rajamouli is the biggest Indian filmmaker is not enough. I would say he is a global filmmaker in the league of Steven Spielberg,
James Cameron, Christopher Nolan and beyond.”
The Beginning was the story of Shivudu (played by Prabhas), an ambitious youth, who, while pursuing his love, learns about the conflict-ridden history of his family, and his legacy. And now, he is all set to take on his new archenemy, and reclaim his kingdom. The film became so popular that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to its plot while campaigning for the recent UP elections.
“No doubt, Baahubali-II will be bigger than Baahubali-I in all respects,” says Rajamouli. “Part two has got many touching scenes. And fans will get answers to several mysteries.”
Making of the magnum opus
Right from the day Rajamouli got the script, written by K.V. Vijayendra Prasad, he worked on each and every aspect of the film, from the characters, their looks and behaviour, to the battle scenes and the weapons used. “We did a lot of study to pick and choose the artistes,” recalls Rajamouli.
Making the second part, however, was easier, he says. “We could avoid mistakes and lags. The advantage was that we had the experience of shooting on such a mega scale, be it a war sequence or a song,” he says.
Clad in a white shirt and grey trousers, with sunglasses resting on his forehead, Rajamouli is having a busy day. It is a terribly hot afternoon, but he keeps sending out commands on how the set should look. Then he explains the upcoming action scene to Prabhas and Sathyaraj.
Every day, the shoot would begin at 2pm and go on till 2am. “He is soft-spoken, but a real taskmaster,” says Sathyaraj. “He gets the best out
of the artistes.”
The perfectionists
While part one was shot over 380 days, production of part two began in 2016. Rajamouli took four months for planning the intricacies of each frame in the two-and-half-hour drama. “For part one, we worked for a year on just planning the shoot—everything from the kingdom set to the horses and weapons used,” he says.
National award-winning art director Sabu Cyril has been part of the Baahubali saga right from its conception. “I did more than 20,000 sketches just for the props used in the two parts,” he says. “For me, it was like doing ten films at a time. We had to relate everything to the ancient kingdom, right from chairs to the headgear used by each character. Rajamouli and I, in fact, had a long discussion on the designs of the helmets used by Prabhas and Rana Daggubatti [who portrays the antagonist, Bhallala Deva], and Sathyaraj.”
Cyril has created an entire ‘kingdom’ for The Conclusion, like the beautiful mountains and gardens he made for Prabhas and Tamannah to romance in the first part. “We imported $60 lakh worth of greenery, such as flowers and trees, for the song sequence,” he recalls.
Cyril says his “beautiful kingdom” would be a fantasy world with mechanical snakes, horses, elephants, wild boars, alligators and bisons. The horses that Prabhas and Rana ride, too, are mechanical ones.
“Thus, we could show the animals falling without hurting real ones,” says Cyril. “We created human dummies, too, to show them falling dead on the battlefield.”
The weapons and armours, he says, look heavy and robust, but are actually lightweight. Cyril imported a few tonnes of flexi-foam from the US for making the pieces. The rocks, the red sand and dried plants and tree stubs in the war zone, too, were made of flexi-foam and fibre.
Ready for the show? Director S.S. Rajamouli on the set of Baahubali II
Man of the moment
As THE WEEK meets Prabhas, he has clocked more than 600 days for The Conclusion. “Maintaining the flow of the character was a challenge. And I had to take extra care to maintain my physique,” he says.
Prabhas’s co-stars are all praise for him. “He dedicated five years of his life to the film. We are all quite proud of him,” says Anushka Shetty. And Rana describes him as “the best co-star” he has ever had.
The first big challenge for Prabhas was to bulk up—from 82kg to 102kg—and maintain the look over the past four years. He was trained by Mr World 2010 Laxman Reddy, using gym equipment worth 01.5 crore.
Rana had to take six to eight non-vegetarian meals a day. The duo, reportedly, consumed 40 boiled egg whites every day to look like beasts!
“Part one was more of character introduction; in part two, you can expect more visual treats and action,” says Prabhas. “But the highlight will be the drama. In terms of shooting, I felt more relaxed in the second part. However, there is pressure on us, as we want to deliver our best, considering the phenomenal response to The Beginning.”
The Telugu star says he has “a special love” for the character Amarendra Baahubali, which kindled “a lot of emotions” in him. “The character is deep, and the whole film revolves around him,” he says.
Prabhas, however, attributes his success to Rajamouli. “If not for him, I would not be here,” he says. “I have not seen anyone as strong as him in my life. Also, he personally took care of me whenever I was injured, and ensured that I was back on the set.”
The terrific two: Rajamouli (below) and Prabhas call each other “darling” on the sets | Photos: Sanjoy Ghosh
The special effect
The Beginning won the national award for visual effects last year, and things have only got better in The Conclusion, says the team. “It has been more than 15 months since I took charge of The Conclusion’s visual effects,” says VFX supervisor R.C. Kamalakannan. “All major VFX studios in India have been roped in for the project. In all, 33 studios across the world are working on the visual extravaganza. Life can’t be more satisfying for me.”
The climax is expected to be one of the longest ever—about 45 minutes. And the action sequences promise to be fantastic, as they have been choreographed by popular Hollywood action director Lee Whittaker.
Busy business
There is much more in store for Baahubali fans besides the film. The Baahubali VR gives fans a 3-D virtual experience; it allows the user to explore the Mahishmati kingdom. An animated series, the Baahubali: Trilogy, and a graphic novel, Battle of the Bold, are also coming up.
Understandably, The Conclusion has generated massive pre-release business from the sales of the satellite and distribution rights. Sources say Sony Entertainment has bagged the satellite rights of the film’s Hindi version at $51 crore—the highest revenue generated by a dubbed film.
With budgets over $200 crore for each part, Baahubali is India’s costliest film venture so far. “As of now, for the second part, we have pumped in a little over $250 crore,” says the film’s co-producer, Shobu Yarlagadda.
Industry sources say The Beginning was the first film in India to earn 0100 crore within two days of its release. Yarlagadda expects The Conclusion to break the record. “It will be released in 6,500 screens worldwide,” he says.
So, why Kattappa killed Baahubali? “Because I asked him to do so,” he quips, with a wicked smile.
