Meet the driving force behind Bahubali: The Conclusion

SS Rajamouli's magnum opus, Bahubali: The Conclusion is undoubtedly the most awaited and the biggest Indian movie of the year. The first film in the series crossed the Rs100 crore mark in a mere 36 hours and this time, the movie is expected to gross Rs1,000 crores. Very rarely has the release of a movie in India generated as much interest as Bahubali, and audiences worldwide seem  anxious to watch the story of the larger-than-life world of Mahishmati unfold on screen. Arti Dani spoke to the cast, who were in Dubai onTuesday, about the Bahubali phenomenon, and how hard it was to keep the reason why Kattappa killed Bahubali
a secret
 
Anushka Shetty

Anushka will have a face off with the powerhouse 'Sivagami'
"You are going to see a lot of shades in my character. What you saw in part one was just a glimpse of my character. Here you will see romance and emotional scenes - a bit of what you saw in part one. My character is extremely complex. Sivagami is also very intense, so it will be really interesting to see two strong female characters come face to face.
 
'Shobhu (Producer)

The world of Bahubali will continue
The producer of the movie Shobu Yarlagadda, told us that the world of Bahubali will continue in various ways. "We have an animated series that is premiering on Amazon. Then we have graphic and regular novels that will tell us the backstory of the Mahishmati kingdom. We want to make the story of Sivagami - how she became a power centre into a TV series in a grand way. There is also a virtual reality experience. We have many more plans where fans can engage in the world of Bahubali." Rajamouli told us that his favourite character Sivagami will have her own show very soon, "The life of Sivagami before she became a queen mother is a complex journey. I need a longer screen time to tell her story. It can't be said in a film format. That is why we selected the series format. There will be 10-15 episode per season that will focus on her story. I need a longer time to tell the complexities of the stories of my characters." 
Why did Kattappa kill Bahubali?

How did the cast and the crew keep it a secret for two-three years? Did they reveal it to their families? Because no one knows the truth as yet.
Rana: We wouldn't tell it to anyone. It is our story and our secret till the movie is out.

Prabhas: We shot a lot of part 2 while we were shooting for part 1. So people on the sets too did not really notice what was actually happening. Hence, maybe the plot never really got leaked. We cannot answer the question because you will find out when you watch the movie.

Rajamouli: Most of the unit and my family members, who are part of the team, know the answer to the question. If it was a simple sentence, it wouldn't have been a secret for so long. The whole film is about leading to that point. A lot of action, drama and sentiments go through it. Luckily, for us, this has been creating a lot of curiosity over the last two years.
 
Prabhas

When team Bahubali got emotional

Prabhas: I am still not out of Bahubali. I still think it (the fim) is not over. I can't get it out of my mind. For some reason, I think we will still continue working on Bahubali.

Anushka: Till he starts shooting for his next movie, I don't think he will get out of it. It's a very thin line. We had to finish the movie because we were so eager to tell the story to everyone out there. We also want to see it on screen ourselves. At the same time, the last few years that we spent together on the journey of Bahubali will stay with me forever. There are bits of the experience that I wouldn't miss - like the early hours and the makeup. I am glad that it's all done. But there's a lot more that I am going to miss from the journey of Bahubali.
 
For Rajamouli, making Bahubali was all about passion, NOT MONEY
Rajamouli: I want to make more than Rs1,000 crores. Money is not a reason why we make films. Of course, filmmaking is a business, we want to make money but that is not the prime factor that drives us. We want to make world class products. Once the movie is done, we want to make every rupee that the movie can make. I wouldn't want to lose even one rupee that my movie can potentially make.
Rana: Rajamouli is a simpleton. Everything comes down to finally telling a great story and he will stop at nothing then telling it. He's been making bigger cinema every time, ever since he became a filmmaker.

Prabhas: Rajamouli has got a small house, roams in a small car. I mean, come on, he is the biggest filmmaker in the country.

Anushka. His wife says that he has no clue about money. For him, it's about the movie and a story. Rajamouli's world revolves around movies and he is clueless about money. He never even carries a wallet. His wife makes sure that his driver has some money, so whenever Rajamouli goes out and needs money, there is some money in the car.
 
Rajamouli

Prabhas did not sign any other movie for five years!
Rajamouli: I did not know that the film was going to take so long (to make). When I first narrated the story to Prabhas, I told him that I need one-and-a-half years of his time. He laughed at me and said that I cannot make the film in one year and that he will give me two-and-a-half years for the movie. The two-and-a-half years stretched to four. He had a better idea than me on how long the film would take. The reason why everyone was willing to give so much time was the story. The characters were so intense, the scope was so challenging. All the cast and crew were willing to spend time happily in that world.
Rana Daggubati

Rana tells us about the injuries he faced

Rana : I was the first to start off in the injury cycle. I injured my knees first, hence I got a medial collateral ligament injury to the knee. I was down for a bit. I also had an injury to my wrist.

Prabhas: I had a shoulder surgery not just because of Bahubali but also because I have been doing a lot of action. It just got worse with this film. We had to stop the war scene shoots for two months and come back and continue the war. I had to do the waterfall song immediately after surgery. During the shooting of that song, due to the injury, I had to put my entire weight on my right arm.
arti@khaleejtimes.com