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Shobu Yarlagadda, who produced the Baahubali movies together with Prasad Devineni, affirms that The Epic launched in practically 3000 theatres, together with 400 screens within the USA, aside from the Gulf area and Europe, amongst different places. The Epic was designed to be greater than a re-release, providing audiences a seamless, complete story rather than a duology.
Work got here in control from March 2025. Rajamouli labored with editors Tammiraju, Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao, and Vincent Tabaillon. “There had been a number of iterations; we had take a look at screenings and modifications earlier than The Epic was finalised,” the producer informs.
The frenzy that the re-release would create amongst Indian movie goers, particularly Telugu film lovers, was anticipated. The workforce additionally hoped to attract the eye of world audiences who had been charmed by RRR. Shobu affirms that aside from the Indian diaspora, the response has been heat from the smaller part of American audiences. The re-release has garnered round $800,000 to date and is anticipated to cross the million greenback mark.
Beyond the numbers, Shobu is happy with the reception in giant format screens together with IMAX and Dolby Vision. “Baahubali 1 was shot in giant format but it surely didn’t launch in IMAX screens. To lastly see the movie on IMAX screens is satisfying,” he provides.
Digital over movie
During the making of Baahubali 1, the push for capturing with digital over movie cameras got here from cinematographer KK Senthil Kumar, Rajamouli’s long-time collaborator. As the movie grew bigger than was initially meant, the workforce spent over a yr in pre-production and pre-visualisation. Digital filmmaking was starting to make inroads in Indian cinema however had not fully changed movie. Senthil was satisfied that the time was ripe for change.
“For Magadheera, we shot the top credit tune utilizing Arri’s early digital digital camera, Arri D20. But I used to be not proud of the outcomes. Digital was nonetheless evolving. So for Eega, we went again to movie cameras. When the preparation was on for Baahubali, I examined Arri’s new digital camera and was satisfied that we must always go digital,” Senthil reminisces.
Senthil most well-liked digital for 2 causes: “Many elements will not be underneath the cinematographer’s management whereas working with movie. Several elements come into play whereas transporting the movie destructive from the go-downs to the units, loading the filmed footage into cans, transporting them to labs the place the destructive is developed… It is demanding till the movie is developed and we see the outcomes. With digital, I felt we might be relaxation assured that what we shoot is what can be seen on display, because of the quickly advancing Digital Intermediate in submit manufacturing.”
Going digital additionally helped archive and protect the footage higher. The destiny of a number of older movie negatives lies in peril owing to lack of applicable storage amenities.
On his half, Shobu and his workforce ensured that each digital file of the Baahubali movies — music, layers of visible results, voice recordings — had been catalogued and archived. “Usually the ultimate output of a scene is saved, not each layer of visible results. But Shobu sir was prepared to take a position extra and guarantee a great storage facility. All this helped once we needed to remaster the movie.”
Senthil, in coordination with colourist Shiva Kumar and CV Rao, CTO of Annapurna Studios, labored on the digital remastering for 2 months. “Digital know-how has developed since Baahubali. We needed The Epic to look contemporary. So we frolicked superb tuning the color grading. During Baahubali 1, the VFX work was delayed and we had little or no time to finalise the color grading. Whenever I re-watched the movie, I’d suppose we may have accomplished it higher. Since we acquired this uncommon alternative to remodel an older movie, we gave it our greatest.”
Subtle enhancements
Shobu reveals that a couple of refined VFX enhancements had been additionally carried out. For occasion, the color grading of Devasena’s (Anushka Shetty) make-up was retouched. “A number of parts had been added in some frames to present additional depth to the Mahishmati kingdom. You may also see extra layers and depth within the episode the place Shividu (Prabhas as Mahendra Baahubali) beheads Bhadra (Adivi Sesh).”
Since the movie went by means of re-editing, M M Keeravani’s background rating additionally went by means of tweaks to keep up a seamless rhythm.
Rana Daggubati as Bhallaladeva | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
In hindsight, Senthil is glad that the unique movie was shot in such a method that it was appropriate for IMAX projection. “On set, it concerned extra effort to border every shot such that every one the footage had the mandatory parts for immersive movie viewing in giant format and large cinemascope format, which was broadly prevalent on Indian screens. Back then, solely Prasads in Hyderabad had an IMAX display.”
Senthil, now engaged on two interval movies — India House and Svayambhu — has not had the time to journey to different cities to look at Baahubali: The Epic on Imax or Dolby Vision codecs, however says he was happy with the output when he labored on the Dolby Vision format at Annapurna Studios.
Tech ahead
Apart from filming in digital, Baahubali’s preliminary sound design and mixing was accomplished to befit Dolby Atmos, although only some theatres had been outfitted with such sound projection in 2015. “Ensuring that we used one of the best know-how accessible on the time helped us remaster the movie with ease,” affirms Shobu.
In the years following the success of the Baahubali movies, Shobu has typically mirrored on what made the movies endure in collective reminiscence. “The characters, the story, the emotional depth and the payoffs for each small trait or transfer resonated with the audiences. That emotion stays contemporary, which is why I believe folks proceed to benefit from the movie. A number of thought went into each side. The thunder of the enormous waterfalls, as an example, was intentional. The sound design helped transport folks to the situation and provide a memorable theatrical viewing expertise.”
Here’s a enjoyable truth. Did you recognize that Baahubali 2 had the second highest footfall ever for an Indian movie, solely after Sholay? “Approximately 110-112 million folks purchased tickets and watched Baahubali 2. This document stays unbeaten. Other movies reported 50 to 60 million footfalls,” says Shobu. Clearly, the ‘Why Kattappa killed Baahubali’ curiosity issue and advertising marketing campaign labored.
