Description
Baahubali: The Conclusion (English: The One With Strong Arms) is an upcoming Indian epic historical fiction film directed by S. S. Rajamouli. It is the continuation of Baahubali: The Beginning. Initially, both parts were jointly produced on a budget of ₹2.5 billion (US$37 million), however the budget of the second part was increased later. Baahubali: The Conclusion has made a business of ₹5 billion (US$74 million) before release. The film is scheduled for a worldwide release on 28 April 2017.
Production
Baahubali: The Conclusion is being produced in Tollywood, the center of Telugu language films in India based out of Hyderabad, however it is being filmed in both Telugu and Tamil languages simultaneously. The film series is touted to be the most expensive in India till date. The screen writer, K. V. Vijayendra Prasad who wrote stories for most of Rajamouli's films once again penned the story for Baahubali. R.C.Kamalakannan is chosen as visual effects supervisor and Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is the Editor. PM Satheesh is the sound designer and Peter Hein is responsible for the action sequences. The costume designers are Rama Rajamouli and Prasanth Tripuraneni. The line producer is M.M Srivalli. The film shooting started on 17 December 2015 at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad with Prabhas and Ramya Krishna.
Casting
Prabhas was cast as main lead of the film. Anushka Shetty was cast as the heroine of the film as she was also a part of Mirchi (2013). She coincidentally became the first heroine Rajamouli repeated in his films and thus made her schedules full for 2013 and 2014. Rana Daggubati was recruited as the antagonist of the film and coincidentally he was also a part of Rudhramadevi. Sathyaraj signed the film.Kannada actor Sudeep was picked for a small role in the film. He shot for four days in July 2013 for the film and had to fight with Sathyaraj in a stunt sequence choreographed by Peter Hein. In April 2013, Adivi Sesh was cast for a crucial role in the film as Rajamouli was impressed by his work in the Panjaa (2011). Actress Ramya Krishnan was chosen to play the crucial role in the film as Rajamatha in August 2013. Actor Nassar was selected to play a supporting role. Charandeep was selected to play the brother of the film's chief villain. On 20 December 2013 a press release stated that Tamannaah will be second heroine of the film which marks her first collaboration with Rajamouli and second collaboration with Prabhas. Meka Ramakrishna was picked for the head of the Kuntala guerillas.
Characters and looks:
Rana Daggubati was said to be playing the role of Prabhas' brother and he too underwent a lot of physical transformation satisfying the role he was assigned to play in the film. He also underwent training in Martial arts under the supervision of a Vietnamese trainer, Tuan. Sathyaraj has a Tonsured look for his role in the film. Sudeep said that he would play the role of a weapons trader Aslam Khan in this film. In the end of October 2013, Rana appeared at a fashion show with a beefed up body which, according to him, was a part of his look in the film. In mid-May 2014, reports emerged that Anushka would play a pregnant woman for a few sequences in the second part of the film.At the same time, Prabhas posted on his Facebook page that he underwent a minor shoulder surgery and would join the film's sets in a span of a month. On 1 June 2014, Prabhas and Rana's trainer Lakshman Reddy, said that Prabhas started his training 8 months before the commencement of shooting and after two years, both of them weighed nearly 100 kilos each. He also added that Prabhas has two attires with a heavy, bulky body for Baahubali's role and a lean physique for the second role. For his look, Prabhas met WWE superstars like The Undertaker in February 2014 and interacted with them about their daily regimen and workouts.
Prabhas had equipment costing ₹15 million shipped to his home, where he built a personal gym. His breakfast included 40 half-boiled egg whites blended and added with protein powder. In mid-June 2014, regarding her role in the film, Tamannaah said that she would be playing the role of a warrior princess named Avanthika and her appearance in the film is completely different when compared to her past films. Before joining the film's shoot, Tamannaah did costume trials for the film which she confirmed in her micro-blogging page stating "I am very excited to get on to the set of Baahubali. I did some dress trials today and my look in this movie will be totally new. I have never been seen in such sort of a look till now. It will be a new role for me." Rajamouli called Tamannaah and her characterization as a "value addition" to the movie. She stated that she plays Avanthika, and had a special training and diet regime. The film introduced a new language called Kilikili.
