Baahubali (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Baahubali (English:
The One With Strong Arms) is a 2015 two part
Indian Telugu epic film, written and directed by
S. S. Rajamouli. Produced by
Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni, the film is primarily made in
Telugu language. It is simultaneously made in
Tamil language as well. There will be dubbed versions in
Hindi and
Malayalam.
Baahubali features an
ensemble cast of
Prabhas,
Rana,
Tamannaah and
Anushka Shetty in the lead roles, and
Ramya Krishnan,
[7] Sathyaraj,
Nassar,
Adivi Sesh,
Tanikella Bharani and
Sudeep in crucial roles.
[8][9][10]
The film is presented by
K. Raghavendra Rao of
Telugu movie industry, while
K.E. Gnanavel Raja and
UV Creations presenting the
Tamil theatrical version,
Karan Johar is presenting the
Hindi theatrical version, and Global United Media is presenting the
Malayalam theatrical version. The soundtrack and background score for the film is composed by
M. M. Keeravani.
Sabu Cyril designed art for the film.
[11] while
V. Srinivas Mohan is the
Visual effects supervisor.
[12]
The project is touted to be the most expensive production in the history of
Indian cinema.
[13][14] Baahubali also one of the few films featured in
BBC's documentary on 100 Years of Indian cinema directed by
Sanjeev Bhaskar.
[15][16][17] The film was shot using
Arri Alexa XT camera marking Rajamouli's first film using digital camera and the
principal photography began at
Rock Gardens in
Kurnool on 6 July 2013.
[18][19] Before the film proceed to its audio release, a small 20 second teaser of the movie has been released on 30 May 2015.
[20] The first part of film was released worldwide on 10 July 2015.
[21][22][23][24] A poster was unveiled in
Kochi,
Kerala, which the makers claim, is the largest film poster in the world.
[1]
Cast
Production
Development
P. M. Satheesh stated that much effort was taken to keep the recording free of anachronistic sounds of modern machinery.
[25] Prabhas, Rana and Anushka did a lot of home work and hard work for the film. All of them practiced
sword fighting, while Prabhas and Rana learned
horse riding.
[26] It was later decided to make it a two part film which would release by 2015, due to its excessive length.
[27] Tamil lyricist
Madhan Karky was selected to write the dialogues for the Tamil version.
[28][29] 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.
[30] The film's action sequences were choreographed by
Peter Hein
who revealed that each and every shot was dealt carefully and there are
huge requirements which are not seen in regular movies as it is a
complete period film. For a particular action sequence, Peter Hein had
to handle around 2000 stuntmen & elephants.
[31] K. K. Senthil Kumar was selected to handle the film's cinematography.
[32]
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
micro-phones 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".
[25] Sabu Cyril was the art director of the film. In an interview to
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 scratch : chairs, thrones, palaces, swords,
armor and costumes."
[33]
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.
[34]
Rana revealed that the film is about a war between two brothers -
Baahubali played by Prabhas and Bhallala Deva played by himself for a
kingdom.
[35]
Casting
Anushka Shetty was recruited as the heroine of the film as she was also a part of
Mirchi (2013).
[36] She coincidentally became the first heroine Rajamouli repeated in his films and thus made her schedules full for 2013 and 2014.
[37] Rana Daggubati was recruited as the antagonist of the film and coincidentally he was also a part of Rudhramadevi.
[38] Tamil actor Sathyaraj signed the film.
[39] There were reports towards the end of April 2013 that either
Sridevi or
Sushmita Sen would be selected to play Prabhas' mother in the film which were confirmed as rumors by Rajamouli.
[40][41] In the end of May 2013, Rajamouli denied the casting of
Sonakshi Sinha as a replacement to Anushka in the Hindi version of the film.
[42]
Kannada actor Sudeep was selected for a small but important role in the film.
[43] He shot for four days in July 2013 for the film and had to fight with Sathyaraj in a sequence choreographed by
Peter Hein.
[44] In April 2013, Adivi Sesh was recruited for a crucial role in the film as Rajamouli was impressed by his work in the
Panjaa (2011).
[45] Actress
Ramya Krishnan was chosen to play the crucial role in the film as
Rajamatha in August 2013.
[46] Actor Nassar was selected to play a supporting role.
[46] On 11 December 2013, a press release stated that Charandeep is selected for one of the negative characters in the film.
[47] On 20 December 2013 a press release stated that
Tamannaah will be second heroine of the film which marks her first collaboration with Rajamouli and second collaboration with Prabhas.
[48]
Characters and looks
Anushka's character's name was revealed as Devasena.
[49]
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.
[38] He also underwent training in Martial arts under the supervision of a Vietnamese trainer Tuan.
[50] Sathyaraj sported a
Tonsured look for his role in the film.
[51] Sudeep said that he would play the role of a weapons trader Aslam Khan in this film.
[52]
In 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.
[53]
In mid-May 2014, reports emerged that Anushka would be seen as a
pregnant woman for a few sequences in the second part of the film.
[54]
At the same time, Prabhas posted in his Facebook page that he
underwent a minor shoulder surgery a month ago and would join the film's
sets in a span of a month which was also confirmed by Rajamouli.
[55]
In the end of May 2014, Prabhas attended a movie launch ceremony which
dispelled the rumors which stated that he was in ICU battling several
health issues and injuries.
[56]
On 1 June 2014, Prabhas and Rana's trainer Lakshman Reddy, who was the
winner of 13 titles in India and abroad in bodybuilding, spoke to the
media about the secrets behind the looks of Prabhas and Rana. According
to him, 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 would be seen in two attires with a
heavy, bulky body for Baahubali's role and a lean physique for the
second role. About the food intake, he said "Their daily diet consisted
of six to eight meals – all non-vegetarian. No rice was given at all.
Meals were eaten every two hours. The total calorie intake would range
between 2000 to 4000 calories a day." For reduction of their weight,
Reddy said "The process will be the same but you have to limit the food
intake, depending on the person’s requirements. It takes four to five
months to reduce".
[57] For his look, Prabhas met
WWE superstars in February 2014 and interacted with them about their daily regimen and workouts.
[58]
Impressed with the infrastructure there, Prabhas got the equipment costing
₹1.5
crore shipped to his home, where he built a personal gym. His breakfast
included 40 half boiled egg whites blended and added with protein
powder everyday.
[58]
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.
[59][60]
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."
[61] Rajamouli called Tamannaah and her characterization as a "value addition" to the movie.
[62]
She later revealed "I play Avanthika, a character from an unspecified
era. A lot of thought went into the costume and jewelry to get the look
right. Director Rajamouli asked me to lose 5-6 kilos to look the part,
so I followed a stringent workout and diet regimen to get the look
right" in an interview to Hemanth Kumar of
The Times of India.
[63]
Filming
The shooting of the film started at
Rock Gardens in Kurnool from 6 July 2013 exactly after a year from the release of Rajamouli's
Eega (2012).
[19][64][65]
In 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.
[66] The second schedule of the film ended on 29 August 2013.
[67] A new schedule started at Hyderabad on 17 October 2013.
[68]
In 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.
[69]
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.
[70] After that, the film's unit traveled to Kerala for their next schedule.
[71] The Kerala schedule started on 14 November 2013.
[72]
In the end of November 2013, the film's shoot was disrupted by
incessant rains and since the portion of shoot was outdoor, the shoot
was temporarily stalled.
[73][74] The shoot at Kerala completed on 4 December 2013 in many exotic locales of Kerala including the famous
Athirappilly Falls and Rajamouli informed to the media that a huge war sequence would be shot soon at Hyderabad.
[75]
A set was erected in Ramoji film city to shoot war sequences involving
around 2000 junior artists and almost all the principal cast from 23
December 2013 for which groundwork began in October 2013.
[76][77]
There were reports that the farmers at Anajpur village close to Ramoji
Film City tried to disrupt the film's shooting citing that they did not
have the required permissions to shoot there which were denied by
Rajamouli.
[78][79] The film's unit took a two-day break on the eve of New Year and the shoot of the sequence resumed from 3 January 2014.
[80][81]
In mid-January 2014, a massive set was constructed there at Ramoji Film
City resembling the city center of the kingdom in which the story
unfolds.
[82] The film's unit took a break on account of
Makar Sankranti and the shoot of war sequences resumed from 16 January 2014.
[83] On 18 January 2014, the film completed 100 working days of the film's shoot.
[84]
Ramoji Film City where the film's major parts including a huge war sequence was shot in specially erected sets.
From 28 March 2014, key scenes of the film were shot during the nights at Ramoji Film City.
[85] On 5 April 2014, Rajamouli informed that the war schedule came to an end.
[86] The film's next schedule started on 20 April 2014 after a brief break.
[87][88]
The film's unit took a small break in the end of May 2014 after
shooting some scenes on Rana Daggubati and Anushka at Ramoji Film City.
[89][90] Later Rana took a break from Baahubali's shooting for a couple of months.
[91]
In the end of May 2014, it was reported that Tamannaah would join the
sets in June 2014 and would participate till December 2014.
[92] Sudeep returned to the film's sets on 7 June 2014 and participated in the shoot along with Sathyaraj at
Golconda Fort to start a fresh schedule which ended on 10 June 2014.
[93][94]
Rajamouli started re-shoot of some scenes which were originally
scheduled for last year whose shoot were disrupted by heavy rains.
[95] Tamannaah joined the film's sets in Hyderabad on 23 June 2014.
[96] In the end of June 2014, the filming continued at
Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad. Prabhas, Tamannaah, Anushka and Rana participated in the shooting and important scenes were shot.
[97] That schedule ended after four days.
[98] At the same time, it was reported that the film's unit would travel to
Bulgaria
to shoot the sequences in maize fields which were supposed to be shot
in the field destroyed due to rains at Hyderabad in October 2013.
[99]
Mahabaleshwar where the film was shot in extreme climatic conditions including fog, rain and cold weather.
A romantic song featuring Prabhas and Tamannaah was shot in a
specially erected set in Ramoji Film City in the third week of July 2014
which was choreographed by K. Sivasankar.
[100]
The song was shot using ropes and trusses which are generally used in
the action scenes and the film's director of photography K. K. Senthil
Kumar confirmed the same and added that the song is shot with an
innovative concept with rich visuals.
[101] After its completion, an action sequence was shot at Ramoji Film City under the supervision of Peter Hein.
[102] On 10 August 2014 the film was declared as the first Telugu film to have been shot for 200 days.
[103][104] A fresh schedule started at
Mahabaleshwar on 26 August 2014.
[105] The cast and crew had to brave bad weather, including rain, fog and cold weather to complete the scenes.
[106]
After nearly two weeks, the team wrapped up the schedule and the next
schedule began at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad from 12 September 2014.
[107] Sabu Cyril designed a 100 feet statue which was erected by Peter Hein in late September 2014.
[108]
Filming continued at Hyderabad though the rest of the films shoots were
halted because of the ongoing strike by Telugu Film Federation
Employees as they employed the staff not belonging to the Federation.
[109]
Few action sequences were shot at Ramoji Film City till 30 November on Prabhas and Rana.
[110]
During the film's shoot for a particular sequence, Tamannaah stood
under an artificial tree designed by Sabu Cyril as a part of the set to
which she was tied to make sure that she did not fly away because of the
strong winds.
[111]
In early December 2014, the film's unit shifted to Bulgaria for a
25-day schedule. It was reported to shift to Bulgaria from Hyderabad
because of the ongoing Telugu Film Federation Employees' strike though
the makers refuted those reports adding that the schedule was planned
long ago.
[112] After three weeks of shoot, the film's unit returned to Hyderabad on 23 December 2014.
[113]
The film's shoot later continued at Ramoji Film City and from 22
December 2014, thousand horses brought from Rajasthan were planned to be
used for shooting.
[114]
Music
Rajamouli's cousin and his norm composer
M. M. Keeravani
composed the music for this film. After the break taken by the film's
team after completion of war schedule on 5 March 2015, an official
statement from the film's team stated that Keeravani is recording two
songs from the film right now.
[87] Madhan Karky was selected as the lyricist for the Tamil version of the soundtrack.
[115] On 2 July 2014, the film's official website published that Keeravani is recording a song at
Prasad Studios in Hyderabad which is sung by
Deepu.
[116]
On 8 October 2014, Keeravani told Deccan Chronicle that the writers are
working on the lyrics of the songs and he would start working on them
in a week's time.
[117] During the film's shoot in Bulgaria, the film's soundtrack was expected to be unveiled in February 2015.
[118] Lahari Music acquired the audio rights in early May 2015 for an amount of
₹30 million and the audio is accessible from youtube.
[119][120] The live of the audio launch will be aired on
TV5(India) which bought the rights for 1.5 crores.
[121]
The team of Baahubali announced that the audio launch of the movie will
take place in Sri Venkateswara University grounds, Tirupati on June 13
on the official page of the movie on twitter.
[122][123]
The film has eight tracks composed by
M. M. Keeravani. The music was launched on 13 June 2015. Lyrics for the three songs were penned by Inaganti Sundar and
Ananta Sriram,
Ramajogayya Sastry, K Shiva Shakti Datta and Chaitanya Prasad were written one each while Aditya and Noel Sean wrote the lyrics for the last song
- Telugu tracklist[124]
- Tamil tracklist[133]
All lyrics written by Madhan Karky.
|
|
| 1. |
"Pachai Thee" |
Karthik, Damini |
4:33 |
| 2. |
"Jeeva Nadhi" |
Geetha Madhuri |
1:55 |
| 3. |
"Dheerane" |
Ramya Behara, Deepu |
5:43 |
| 4. |
"Irulkonda" |
Deepika |
4:04 |
| 5. |
"Moochile" |
Kailash Kher |
3:26 |
| 6. |
"Manohari" |
Mohana Bhogaraju, Haricharan |
3:52 |
| 7. |
"Siva Sivaya" |
Vaikom Vijayalakshmi |
3:32 |
| 8. |
"Dheerane (English Version)" |
Ramya Behara, Aditya |
3:26 |
|
Total length:
|
27:08 |
|
- Hindi tracklist[134]
All lyrics written by Manoj Muntashir.
Reception
Firstpost stated the movie as "SS Rajamouli's fantasy film with great battle scenes and hunky heroes is just epic".
[135] Hindustan Times described the movie as
This SS Rajamouli film is all sound and spectacle.
[136] Indian Express stated
Rajamouli film is simply spectacular.
[137] The Times of India gave 3.5 stars to the movie stating
this highly anticipated part one of the two-part period epic, manages to enthrall you with its sheer scale and grandeur.
[138] The Hindu called it as a
A triumph of imagination.
[139]
Release
The film is scheduled to be released on July 10, 2015 also hitting 4000+ Screens.
[140] Telugu and Hindi trailers crossed 1 million views each within 24 hours, and on
Facebook the trailer crossed 1.5 million views, 300,000-plus likes and 200,000-plus shares in 24 hours.
[141]
Marketing
A number of short promotional "making of" videos has been released.
[142][143][144][145] For releasing all those videos,
Arka Media Works had its own channel on
YouTube and the team unveiled first look posters and videos featuring the film's lead stars on the occasions of their birthdays.
[146] The film used an
augmented reality application to play the trailer on smart phones and tablets.
[147]
The crown used by the character of Baahubali in the film was exhibited
at Comic Con, Hyderabad as a part of the film's promotion. A
cos play event was held in which chosen winners were given a chance to visit the sets of the film.
[148] The film's unit also launched a
WhatsApp messenger to give regular updates about the film to the subscribers.
[149]
Distribution
In early July 2014, the film first part's Karnataka and
Ceded (Rayalaseema) region distribution rights were sold to a prominent distributor for
₹23 crore (US$3.7 million) out of which the
Ceded region, which included
Kadapa,
Kurnool,
Anantapur,
Chittoor and
Bellary areas, the rights alone fetched
₹14 crore (US$2.2 million)
[150][151] At the same time, the film's Nizam region theatrical distribution rights were purchased by
Dil Raju for an amount of
₹25 crore (US$4.0 million). only for the first part.
[152][153] Though he did not confirm the price, Dil Raju said in an interview to
Deccan Chronicle
that he purchased the first part's Nizam region rights and added that
he would acquire the rights of the second part also for this region.
[154] BlueSky Cinemas, Inc. acquired the theatrical screening and distribution rights in overseas.
[155][156][157]
Home media
Baahubali's satellite rights were sold to
MAA TV for 25 crores for both parts which was a record for
Telugu movie satellite rights.
[158]
Title issues
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 as they were afraid that the film would portray his story in a violent manner.
[159] 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.
[160]
Accusations of plagiarism
The makers 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."
[161] Baahubali's
first 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 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."
[162]
