6 ways in which ‘Baahubali’ has revolutionized Telugu cinema

When it comes to Tollywood, there is one movie which will never fail to impress and that is SS Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali’. Ever since the first part of the fantasy epic franchise came out last year, the whole world was held under its spell. Now, the second installment- ‘Baahubali 2’ is just a few months away from release, but the excitement is already reaching a fever pitch. So, on the day of the launch of ‘Baahubali 2’s first look, here are 6 ways in which the Prabhas starrer has changed Telugu cinema forever.

Great production values

The quality of a feature film always comes at a price and the makers of ‘Baahubali’ were not afraid of putting in a humongous amount of money to get the desired results. The movie was made on a staggering budget of more than Rs. 250 Crores, which is not a small amount for an Indian film. Erecting grand, larger than life sets, hiring the best stunt team, camera crew, and VFX crew took an extensive amount of money. In a way ‘Baahubali’ proved that if a film had to reach an epic status, then it requires an equally grand amount of spending. Ever since the movie came out, Tollywood films have seen an increase in funding and in turn better production values.

Incredible VFX

This one is a no-brainer. With the exception of maybe one or two Bollywood films, Indian films have always suffered from shoddy graphics and VFX. This lack of good effects was even more apparent in regional cinema and ‘Baahubali’ has sought to change all that. The SS Rajamouli epic involved a conglomerate of many India based VFX teams such as Makuta, Prasad, and Annapurna studios. Without any foreign aid, the ‘Baahubali’ team was able to generate first class VFX and this alone is the reason why Telugu cinema is immensely proud of this film. The Prabhas starrer opened new vistas for Indian films in the world of graphics and special effects.

Perfectionism

If Aamir Khan is the perfectionist of Bollywood, then SS Rajamouli holds the title down South. The amount of work that he put into every scene was staggering. First off, both Prabhas and Rana Daggubati had to undergo massive physical transformation to just look the part. After which, they underwent rigorous training of different fighting styles using swords, bows, maces and everything in between. During the war sequences, there was so much attention to detail that even the way the actors held their bows and their weapons was spot on, in sync with the warriors of ancient times. As if that’s not enough, in order to bring more authenticity, the makers created a whole new language called ‘Kiliki’ for the barbaric Kalakeyas! If this isn’t perfection, then nothing is.

Intricate storytelling

No movie is good enough without an interesting plot and ‘Baahubali’ aced on that as well. It kept the plot of the first part nice and simple and progressively went on adding more characters and subplots. In the end, the story of ‘Baahubali’ was so extensive that it had to be told in two or more parts. The fact that why Kattapa killed Baahubali is still such a point of interest goes to show the success of the storyline. Another reason why the movie has such a massive pull is the mythological angle of it all. So when you combine a good tale with mythological elements in a country like India, you got yourself a winner of a plot.

Unique promotional strategies

Nobody probably expected ‘Baahubali’ to become such a massive success; which is why the promotional campaign for the first part was very traditional. But after seeing the great response, the team has resorted to some excellent promotional strategies that everyone should take note of. First up is the launching of the game, comics and animated series that promises to take ‘Baahubali’ fandom to the next level. Then there is the ambitious plan to launch Virtual Reality booths across 2500 screens to give a firsthand experience of the world of ‘Baahubali’. Such unique and aggressive promotion will continue to increase as the release date looms closer.

International representation

In the last few years, no Indian film has had such a wide reach on a global scale like this one. When it comes to Telugu cinema, no movie in the entire history of Tollywood has achieved such popularity and hype. The Prabhas starrer has been screened in many international film festivals including the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Other than the festivals, it has also been screened in Japan, China, Taiwan, Germany, France, Belgium, Peru and many other countries ensuring that the legacy of ‘Baahubali’ spreads far and wide. The SS Rajamouli epic has proven that even a regional film can bring international recognition to India.