Bahubali: The Beginning (2015)
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Bãhubali: The Beginning is...
Bãhubali: The Beginning (159 minutes) is the first part of a two-film, almost-five-hour Indian blockbuster released in the Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages. Early signs are that it might create Indian box-office history and even if falls short of that somewhat it seems certain to be one of the most profitable Indian films ever. It is the biggest national crossover film from the Telugu industry, and the second in order of time from the South, after Robot (Endhiran), the profits of which Bãhubali: The Beginning seems to be overtaking, even after accounting for inflation.
The official spelling of the film is Bãhubali: The Beginning; the ‘a’ has a wavy diacritical mark above it to indicate the longer (aa) sound. Indpaedia has not put a diacritical mark in its top heading because most readers are likely to search for the film with a plain ‘a.’
Story
A baby boy is miraculously found alive in the middle of a river by a few villagers. They raise him as their own. Named Shiva (Prabhas), the boy grows up to be an adventurous commoner until his past comes back to haunt him. Turns out, Shiva is royalty and heir to the Mahishmati kingdom. Son of the noble king Amarendra Bãhubali (Prabhas in a dual role) and queen Devasena (Anushka Shetty), he must now fight the evil king Bhallala Deva (Rana Daggubati), who tortured his parents and forcefully seized their kingdom. From The Times of India
Mike McCahill, The Guardian, UK adds:
‘The infant Bãhubali could be Moses; shifting a stone shrine several hundred feet, his teenage self is as hefty as Hercules; swinging from vines so as to climb the waterfall his village sits under, he’s as romantic a figure as Tarzan.
‘New frontiers unfold before our eyes: one moment we’re witnessing mildly risqué canoodling in a forest of orchids, the next prowling the streets of a fortified city where hundreds of flogged and flogging extras have been charged with erecting a towering golden statue. (Again with the Moses comparisons.) The final 45 minutes roam a vast battlefield that, with its human shields and Boadicea-style murder chariots, makes Helms Deep resemble a punch-up in a chip shop. At each turn, the money’s right there on screen...
‘Upon scaling that waterfall, the adult Bãhubali (the genial, moustachioed Prabhas) finds he’s strayed into a civil war; only with a glimpse of warrior princess Avanthika (Tamannaah Bhatia) does he sense which side to pick. Their slyly feminist pairing makes some headway, yet that last-act battle forms part of an extended flashback that reveals the full extent of the dynastic tangle they’ve charged into. (The decision to split one epic into two films here makes narrative and economic sense: this mess will require some cleaning up.)
‘It’s merely cute when Bãhubali plunges into a lake to paint the hand the dozing Avanthika has let slip into the waters, yet the action has a lovely pay-off: this impromptu tattoo is seen to complete one on the hero’s bicep during a later embrace.’
Reviews
International
The Guardian, UK
By Mike McCahill
- (4 / 5 stars: 'Dil Dhadakne Do' was awarded ***)
‘fantastic bang for your buck…SS Rajamouli’s two-part epic brilliantly ticks off the blockbuster wish-list, and innovates with it’
The most expensive Indian movie …reportedly set its producers back around $40 million: pocket change by Hollywood standards, a sign of how the movie world’s other half live. Yet for once with these lavish items, the budget isn’t the whole story: the impressive results only set one to wondering why the American studios don’t insist on getting more for their money….
[W]hat’s most striking is how these resources have been marshalled – to enhance, rather than clutter up, the narrative throughline…
In this, Bãhubali demonstrates the pleasing, straight-ahead simplicity of certain videogames: whenever our hero accomplishes a task, some new challenge presents itself.
Throughout, Rajamouli strikes a near-perfect balance between physicality and poetics. That waterfall becomes both mirror and measure of personal growth.
National
The Times of India
By Renuka Vyavahare
Critic's rating: 3.5/5
Avg readers' rating: 4.5/5
‘…manages to enthrall you with its sheer scale and grandeur. Painstakingly made, paying acute attention to detail for the minutest of sound and visuals, Rajamouli… ensures that the larger-than-life execution matches his grandiose vision. It doesn't lack emotional resonance. It manages to be much more than a blood-soaked romp. The heart of the film lies in the simple thought that good is mightier than evil.’
Box office
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Pre-release business
Initial expectations
Overseas rights were to be sold for a record Rs9 crore
Telugu version alone: AP/Nizam+ KA + overseas theatrical rights were sold for Rs88 crore
plus
Rest of India and satellite etc rights: Just under Rs.18 crore.
Total for Telugu: Rs. 105 crore
Dubbed Tamil and Hindi Versions Their theatrical and satellite are said to have sold for Rs.15-25 crore
Total in all languages: ‘a minimum of 120 Cr and upto 140Cr rivalling Robo in Terms of Pre Release Business,’ Andhra Box Office.com had reported on Aug 12, 2014.
It revised its own estimate a few months later Andhra Box Office.com, with the following details.
Actual figures
Bãhubali part 1 was actually sold for the following sums:
i) The Telugu areas of Nizam (roughly: Telengana) and AP: Rs 66.05 crore (The break up was: Nizam Rs. 23 crore; ‘Ceded’ territories Rs. 13 crore; Vizag Rs. 7 crore; East Rs.5.05 crore; West Rs. 4.5 crore; Krishna Rs. 4 crore; Guntur Rs. 6 crore; Nellore Rs. 3.5 crore)
Karnataka (Telugu and other versions) Rs. 12 crore
Overseas (Telugu and Hindi versions) Rs. 11 crore
Total for the Telugu/ basic version: Rs. 89.05 crore
ii) Tamil Nadu: Rs. 13 crore
iii) Kerala (including Malayalam TV): Rs. 3.25 crore
iv) Rest of India: Rs. 10 crore [In the event, this was recovered in less than two days]
v) Overseas rights of the Tamil version: Rs. 2 crore
Worldwide theatrical Rs. 117.3 crore
vi) Audio and launch: Rs. 3 crore (sold to Lahari/ TV5)
vi) Satellite: Rs. 35-45 crore (sold to Star India, the figure had depended on the success of the Hindi-Urdu version; the film being a nationwide hit, the latter figure is the correct one)
vii) Video, digital, miscellaneous: Rs. 1 crore
Grand total Rs. 156-166 crore (outstripping Robot/ Endhiran)
Domestic box office performance
All language versions
Released on 3500 screens nationwide
Day 1 record:
Bãhubali: The Beginning created history by earning Rs50 crore on Day 1, setting a new record for the Day 1 collections of an Indian film in any language. Occupancy in South India was almost 90 to 100%, in the other regions of India it was more than 55%. Movie lovers broke theatre windows to enter in Pavagada, Karnataka
Hindi-Urdu
Friday 10 July: Rs.5.15 crore (a record for a film dubbed into Hindi-Urdu)
Saturday 11 July: Rs 7.09 crore
(Total of Days 1 and 2: Rs 12.24 crore)(a record for a film dubbed into Hindi-Urdu)
Overseas
Broke the first day record of PK
USA
Telugu
Thursday 9 July: $ 1,360,201
Friday 10 July: $ 999,975
(Rs 14.96 crore in two days)
Tamil
Thursday 9 July: $ 10,850
Friday 10 July: $ 50,821
(Rs39.08 lakh in two days)
Canada
Thursday 9 July: $ 21,875 (paid previews)
Friday 10 July: $ 25,342
(Rs 23.63 lakh from just two screens)
Cast
Prabhas Bãhubhali / Sivudu
Rana Daggubati Bhalladeva
Anushka Shetty Devasena
Tamannaah Bhatia Avanthika
Ramya Krishnan Sivagami
Nasser Bijjaladeva
Sudeep Aslaam Khan
Satyaraj Kattappa
Prabhakar Kalakeya Chieftain
Crew
Direction, screenplay: S.S. Rajamouli
Writers:
Madhan Karky ..
Rahul Koda
Vijayendra Prasad
Producers
Prasad Devineni
K. Raghavendra Rao
Shobu Yarlagadda
Music: M.M. Keeravani
Cinematography Senthil Kumar
Film Editing Venkateswara Rao Kotagiri
Production Design Sabu Cyril
Art Direction Manu Jagadh
Technical specifications
Total playing time 2 hr 39 min
Sound Mix Dolby Surround 7.1
Aspect Ratio 1.78 : 1 / (high definition)
Camera Arri Alexa (ARRI RAW)
