This Prabhas blockbuster clocked the highest footfalls in theatres after Sholay, Jason Momoa was the first choice for its villain

Speaking about Aamir Khan’s comment that Baahubali 2 is still the country’s most-watched film in terms of total number of footfalls, Shobu Yarlagadda added, “Sholay has the highest number of footfalls for any Indian film. After Sholay, it’s Baahubali 2. Nobody has beaten that record till now. That’s roughly 110 million people is the number if I remember correctly. “ 

Also Read | War scenes in Baahubali: The Beginning cost Rs 1 cr every four days; Rs 2 cr was spent on Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’s previsualisation

The producer also added the variables that affect these numbers and the ever-decreasing footfalls for theatrical films. “These numbers include rewatches as well. It’s not even unique footfalls. We are not getting enough content to theatres. There is a void on many occasions in terms of films being released in theatres. Plus, everybody is taking a longer time to make movies now due to the nature of the scale of these films. So it’s a chicken-egg situation where there needs to be adequate films available at the right time for theatrical viewing.”

There have also been Reddit and social media theories about the casting of the male leads in the Baahubali franchise and how the ‘Aquaman’ star Jason Momoa almost made it to the cast list as Bhallaladeva. “We had a passing thought to have Jason Momoa play the ‘Bhallaladeva’ character. We tried to approach him, but immediately after that, Rana Daggubati agreed to do the role, so we went ahead and cast him.”

The producer also added, “There was a little bit of effort put into reaching Jason Momoa. We tried to reach his agent, send the script, stuff like that.” He also offered the final word on the long ongoing online chatter that Hrithik Roshan was the first casting choice for the title role of Baahubali, “I will say this now, we never approached Hrithik for Baahubali. From day 1 it was only Prabhas we had in mind as Baahubali.”

Also Read | How Prabhas transformed into an agent of quiet power in Prashanth Neel’s Salaar

Shobu Yarlagadda also briefly commented on the wrong lessons filmmakers and producers have taken from the global success of Baahubali films and why they have failed to imitate the impact of the franchise. “I don’t want to comment on that. But basically, showing scale itself is an art. It’s not just about building the biggest set. It’s about the work that goes into showing scale on screen. That itself is a talent. How do you take somebody into that world? You have to handhold the audience into your world as a filmmaker.”

Finally, when asked about chances for a Baahubali 3 announcement in the new re-release version, the producer was quick to deny any such plans. “No, we don’t have plans to make any announcements about Baahubali 3 in this re-release version. We will need more time to work on Baahubali 3. It will be announced in the future once we have settled on the story.” 

The re-release version Baahubali: The Epic will be releasing in theatres on October 31.

From the homepage

EC announces Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in 12 states, UTs

What happened behind the scenes – and a screen – when Vijay met families of Karur stampede victims?

Energy trade principles applied selectively: Jaishankar’s swipe at US after meeting Rubio