Netflix today released Modern Masters: S S Rajamouli, a 73-minute-long documentary on one of the greatest filmmakers of not just India but the world. It comprises bytes of S S Rajamouli as well as that of his actors, family members etc talking about his life, habits, films etc. A major chunk of the documentary is on the Baahubalifilm series that made Rajamouli the blockbuster Pan-India director. The two-part film has a huge fan following but on the day of Baahubali – The Beginning’s (2015) release, there was a fear that it would bomb badly.
Modern Masters: Prabhas, S S Rajamouli, S S Karthikeya admit that the first day first show reactions of Baahubali – The Beginning were negative and they feared a HUGE financial loss: “We just hugged each other and I was crying”
S S Rajamouli said in the documentary, “I could see the budget was much bigger than what we anticipated. The film had to become a super duper hit for him (producer Shobu Yarlagadda) to get out of the water.”
Rana Daggubati, who played the antagonist Bhallaladeva was stationed in Mumbai a day before release. He graced the special screening of the film, which was attended by several Bollywood personalities. On the screening experience, Rana said, “I could see people talking in the first half. I was like, ‘Guys, why are you talking?’. My palms were sweating. I also got five missed calls from Prabhas and Karthikeya (S S Rajamouli’s son) each.”
He continued, “But in the second half, every five minutes, they started clapping. Even Kalakeya’s entry got a reaction. And it happened right all the way till the end. People even stood up and clapped (when the film ended).”
This gave confidence to the whole team that even the Telugu-speaking audience would appreciate the film. However, early in the morning, they got a jolt. S S Karthikeya stated, “At 3 am, we saw a lot of negative reviews. These reviews thrashed the film and Dad and said that he wasted people’s time and money.”
The reactions of the early morning shows were also tepid. Prabhas confessed, “In Telugu, it was a disaster talk. I tell all my friends the night before the release of every film. ‘Wake me up and call me only if it’s a blockbuster. Otherwise, don’t wake me up’. And no one woke me up!” He added, “I woke up and I wondered, ‘When Bollywood says it’s beautiful, the Telugu audience should definitely say better things’.”
S S Karthikeya confessed, “I saw Dad walking in the corridor. I looked at him, he looked at me and he understood. We just hugged each other and I was crying.” S S Rajamouli admitted that he feared that producer Shobu Yarlagadda might lose all his money.
But once the initial shows got over, things took a turn and how. S S Karthikeya revealed, “Later, we were told that the families have started coming in (and they are loving it). It just changed overnight!”
In no time, Baahubali – The Beginning became the biggest Telugu hit of all time. This made it clear that the sequel, Baahubali 2 – The Conclusion (2017), would be a blockbuster of epic proportions. And that’s what happened.
S S Rajamouli explained, “We released Baahubali‘s first part with a deficit. And Baahubali 2 again was like a 250-crore film or something. And add a 30 crores deficit to it. It still had to perform a lot before any of us could see some money.”
Karan Johar, who presented both parts in Hindi, drew parallels with Sholay, which also initially got negative reactions and then became an all-time blockbuster. Due to this and other factors, KJo said, “Baahubali is the Sholay of our times.”
Also Read: Modern Masters: SS Rajamouli says his work crew is also his family: “Extremely lucky to have such a family who are so protective about me”
More Pages: Bahubali – The Beginning Box Office Collection
, Bahubali – The Beginning Movie Review
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