As far as we were concerned, it was the end of our careers.
But sometimes, the courage your friends give you means everything.
He said, "Can you manage with 50 to 60 crore?"
"I know some people in Mumbai. I'll talk to them and get the funding."
"We'll get through this. No problem."
I didn't know whether it would actually happen,
but the confidence he gave us really helped.
It gave me hope that we could get out of this situation.
It's very important to have friends like that in life.
Friends who stand by you during tough times
and offer a word of encouragement or a pat on the back
are incredibly important.
By evening, things started to change.
Even between the matinee shows
and the evening shows, you could see the shift.
By Saturday and Sunday, it was a completely different story.
By Saturday, everyone realized this was a
mind-boggling, phenomenal, unheard-of blockbuster.
But after all the fear and anxiety of the first day,
it took me a while just to feel relieved,
let alone process the scale of its success.
I couldn't get my nerves under control until Sunday.
That Sunday,
I went to Prabhas's house.
In the evening, there was a small get-together.
As I was entering,
Ram Gopal Varma sir was also sitting there with Prabhas.
I remember that as one of my favorite moments.
He said, "Shobu, until yesterday, you were considered a big fool.
Everybody thought you were doing something crazy…
and you didn't know what you were doing.
Today, you're considered a genius. So, welcome."
He gave me a big hug.
I still remember how perceptions changed overnight.
You can be thought of as doing something crazy…
that will be the biggest mistake.
And then, like a flip of a coin,
it's seen as a stroke of genius.
From the following week onwards,
the numbers in Telugu states picked up.
It was doing phenomenally, record-breaking numbers…
in the southern states.
The traction was very good in Hindi as well.
Then we knew we were in safe territory.
I saw the audience's reaction in Mumbai when Baahubali was released.
The first time I tried to go to the theater,
I couldn't get a ticket for my own film.
That was a great feeling. I was like, "Okay, now we're talking."
"I can't get the tickets to my own film."
For a long time, after Baahubali released,
there were kilometers of queues outside cinema theaters.
So many people who stopped going to theaters started coming back.
That was a really welcoming change for Indian Cinema.
Theatrically, it created a huge impact when it released.
It was the most number of people ever watching a movie,
probably 10 crore people went to the theaters.
When I finally got a ticket
I watched the film and the audience's reactions.
It was a crazy experience to look at the screen,
then the audience, and see their reactions.
People were in awe.
When I watched that movie on the big IMAX screen,
the titles had just started,
and I had tears rolling down my eyes.
I was sitting right there
along with the audience…
and I've never seen such a reaction in my career.
When people really love a movie,
they watch it over and over again.
They take their friends too.
They say, "How could you miss this? Come, let's watch it!"
That is what reflects in the box office numbers.
Obviously, the movie made a lot of money and created many records.
That makes me happy and proud.
But the love people showed for Baahubali…
definitely ranks higher than money.
After Baahubali Part 1 was released,
what made me the happiest was one particular incident.
The Godavari Pushkaralu had just begun.
I went to my hometown, Kovvuru, to take a dip in the holy river.
Early in the morning, as I was coming out of the water,
I saw a group of people sitting there.
They weren't talking about God or the rituals.
They were talking about Baahubali.
"What was he thinking?"
"How could he end the film so abruptly after Kattappa kills Baahubali?"
They just couldn't get over that cliff-hanger.
They had never seen anything like it in Indian cinema before.
"Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?" became a sensation.
The initial reaction was mixed.
People didn't quite know how to respond to it.
We were a little nervous about the first show as well.
But from the second show onward,
it became a phenomenal success.
"Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?"
was a completely unplanned and unexpected phenomenon.
The idea of waiting two years for the answer to a cliff-hanger was unheard of.
Whether it was the Prime Minister or any other politician,
everyone was asking, "Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?"
Hats off to the audience for holding on for two years.
Shivagami clearly says to Kattappa, "Go and kill Baahubali."
Despite having so many people on set,
I'm surprised no one leaked the twist.
We didn't make them take
any oaths, that's for sure.
It's a miracle it stayed hidden.
They might have told me if I had asked, as a Producer.
But I didn't.
Hats off to the entire unit. No one said a word.
None of us anticipated that it would go viral…
and become the most asked question.
That "WKKB" went on to define the marketing for Baahubali 2.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT "WKKB" MEANS IN THE BAAHUBALI POSTER?
#WKKB BAAHUBALI STARTS A NEW TREND
The two-part thing… its genesis was Baahubali.
When we decided to do Part 1 and 2,
there were many doubts like, "Why? Who will watch it?"
There were so many questions and doubts about…
why the audience would bother to watch the second part.
We heard them express many such questions and doubts.
Now, nobody even worries about making it in parts.
Part 1 and Part 2 has become a very common phenomenon.
During the release of Part 1 in Mumbai,
we had to meet some big people there.
I won't take names, but they were top tier people.
I asked them, "How much money will the movie make?"
They said, "The last biggest dubbing film made 20-something and so,
maybe we can achieve 30 crores."
I was furious.
I went back to the room with Shobu and said,
"We can't be making 30. We'll make 140, 150 crores!"
It was very innocent of us because…
it's not easy to gauge Baahubali's collections in Mumbai.
This was the highest a Telugu film had ever collected.
These guys spent twice as much…
and often did impossible math saying the movie would fail.
But dreamers will always be dreamers and…
they just go forward and achieve things.
It changed the perspective.
Now, you know a lot more people dream.
It gave them license
We were waiting for the next big moment to happen.
I wanted the film to do good because of the budget.
So I said it would make 100, 150 crores.
It did 165 crores, no less.
I said it again after 10 years, "See, I told you it would make 150 crores."
It was innocent talk.
Like a kid talking, who just wants the movie to do well.
So, Baahubali 1 turned out to be a blockbuster.
Six months into the shoot of Part 2 at RFC,
Puri Jagannadh called me.
He was in Bangkok and said Baahubali was a craze there.
I asked what happened.
He had a small infection and was…
waiting at a hospital for an hour.
The nurse asked, "India?" and he said yes.
Then she said, "Baahubali!"
Puri was shocked. "You saw the film?"
She said, "Yes, everyone saw it! The doctor loves it."
He said, "I'm his friend," and showed her a photo of us together.
She immediately took the photo to the doctor and said,
"He's Baahubali's friend!" In Bangkok!
They skipped his wait time and treated him immediately.
He sent me a voice message.
Rajamouli and Rama were also on set.
We knew about the impact in Japan,
but this was the first time I heard it reached Bangkok.
Just being "Baahubali's friend" got him special treatment.
That was a masterstroke I remember from the shoot.
The second part was also a breeze when it came to raising money,
even though we had to spend another 220 to 230 crore.
Just as Mr. Ramoji Rao had supported us on the first film,
Matrix Prasad had a lot of goodwill toward Shobu, me, Arka Media,
and, of course, Rajamouli.
He said, "I'd like to be part of the Baahubali journey."
"If you need any funding, please let me know."
It felt like a godsend when we were figuring out how to raise the money.
Thanks to Mr. Matrix Prasad.
When a wild animal
like a lion or a tiger pounces on its prey,
it lets out a roar.
And that roar lands like a single punch.
The sound "Why" is just like that roar.
-It's in the trailer, right? -Yes, in the trailer, sir.
We recorded that in Madurai.
There weren't many singers with me. I was alone.
I roared for 24 layers all by myself.
-Yes, that was my voice. -Okay.
A single layer would sound weak.
So, I created that intensity across 24 tracks.
I am sitting with Mr. M.M. Kreem.
I consider myself very lucky because
he is a music director who has embraced every style.
In Baahubali, there is a song called "Dandalayya".
We recorded that in a farmhouse caravan, not in a studio.
We were initially just intending to compose,
but a pattern emerged.
Bhairava was there and said he would sing.
He sang it along with the chorus singers.
We just recorded the song in the caravan.
It's a song recorded in a car, not even a studio.
You can't tell the difference in quality.
No one would know unless told.
So, there are many myths in movie making.
The joy of breaking them is far greater…
than the joy of a movie becoming a hit.
I broke the rule that a song should only be recorded in a studio.
Luckily, during the re-recording of Part 1,
I got to be inside the studio.
It was the scene where Seshu's head is cut off.
I was watching, and there was no sound.
The visuals were extraordinary but, there was no sound.
Then, from the mother's point of view,
the sound was added.
I was like, "Keeravani sir, that's what he did! Silence!"
That's the magic.
In such a heavily dramatic, violent scene,
he stopped the music.
He added it from the mother's point of view,
her looking at her son. They added RR at that point.
I was clapping.
He knew what he was doing.
That is why he's the great Keeravani.
That will be good.
We started Arka in 2001 and were primarily into television.
As producers, we decided that I would grow the TV business…
and Shobu would handle movies.
In 2011, I briefly shifted to Mumbai…
to grow the TV business.
For six months, I was trying to set up meetings,
but I couldn't get a single appointment.
None of the decision-makers would see me to hear my pitch.
"I'm a producer from Hyderabad, we do great stuff in TV." No one cared.
We were looking at the Hindi market, but no luck.
After a year, I shifted back because it was pointless.
After Baahubali-- I don't want to boast, but
the same people who wouldn't even give me an appointment
were coming to our office,
asking if they could work with us.
It felt nice.
That was the success of Baahubali.
We built on that from there.
The film has a mix of unbelievable yet entertaining action scenes.
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion has become the biggest
Indian blockbuster ever, cutting across languages.
The National Award for Best Feature Film goes to Baahubali 2: The Conclusion.
Presented to Shri Prasad Devineni. He is awarded the Swarna Kamal.
Baahubali was released in 2015.
By then, Telugu cinema had been around for nearly 85 years.
In those 80 years of Indian Cinema history,
the first Pan-Indian film was Baahubali.
In the ten years since,
you know how many Pan-Indian movies have come.
It gave us the push to show
our stories to the whole of India.
Baahubali stands as a solid foundation
for many Pan-Indian films.
Usually, a project creates a certain impact on your life.
But Baahubali didn't just impact my life.
It changed the entire industry.
It redefined what "Indian Cinema" means.
We had the word "Indian Cinema", but…
didn't know what it really meant until Baahubali.
Directors used to tell me that…
Baahubali changed everything for them.
We can make a great film from anywhere in the country now.
It's beautiful that people say Baahubali changed their lives.
An Assamese film can now be dubbed across languages.
That became possible only because of Baahubali.
For this generation, this is probably the largest impact that…
any cinema could have.
An actor rooted in Telugu would be seen differently,
as would a director from here.
That cross-pollination of talent…
is a very exciting thing that has happened.
I grew up watching Indian Cinema,
but I saw the evolution after Baahubali.
Our pictures are more popular in the North than their own movies.
What else do we need?
That is only because of Baahubali.
Baahubali has really set a benchmark for period cinema.
I'm happy so many people are making their own "Baahubalis" now.
We set a trend in period films.
People started finding new ways
to tell the stories of our country and its culture.
I saw this happen consistently after Baahubali.
People consciously wanted to tell stories rooted in our land.
I feel incredibly proud
to have been part of a film that promoted that.
Whenever I met international VFX teams,
they'd say, "Oh, India is like this."
They always seemed to view India as a poor country.
But is that really true,
or is that just how you imagined it?
That's the way we used to live.
I'm glad they didn't ask me about the visual effects.
They only asked about the culture, which blended really well.
I'm so happy that Baahubali redefined Indian cinema
and that I got to be a part of it.
Might, majesty, and Maahishmathi.
What Rome is to history,
Maahishmathi and Baahubali are to Indian cinema.
This is what Indians can do.
This is what…
Telugu cinema and Indian cinema can do.
It gave us a sense of pride.
Everyone has to evolve with time.
In that journey of evolving cinema,
I feel Baahubali became a torchbearer.
It took cinema to another level.
It definitely had an impact.
Our breath is a storm!
Our blood is a mighty army!
Hail, Maahishmathi!