The visual effects that wowed you, the music score that brought to life the most epic moments of the Baahubali franchise -- in fact, all the things which made the Baahubali series the epic journey that it is -- cost its makers Rs 450 crore.
However, with S S Rajamouli's magnum opus, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, having already netted Rs 600 crore in worldwide box office collections, and with the juggernaut refusing to stop, the cost appears to have been well worth it.
According to Zee news, the climax of the epic extravaganza alone cost Rs 30 crore. Reportedly, this is twice the cost of the climax of the prequel.
In context, according to Box Office Mojo, The Lord of the Rings trilogy cost a total $281 million to make, while The Star Wars prequel trilogy cost $343 million. In rupee terms, taking the current value of the dollar, the Tolkien epic would cost Rs 1,802.9 crore today. While that is a number unlikely to be matched by Indian filmmakers anytime soon, the Baahubali series definitely made a start.
Of course, with the exorbitant expenditure come the huge risks. According FirstPost, one of the producers of Baahubali had revealed that production house Arka Mediaworks, which bankrolled the two-part franchise, didn’t make any money from the first film. However, this time it seems that the makers of Baahubali are set to be well rewarded.
As reported earlier, as of Tuesday, the film's Indian gross business stood at about Rs 395 crore, while overseas business had been over $18-19 million in three days (excluding previews). The worldwide figures, at Rs 506 crore, are for the three-day weekend and do not include previews, including which the total goes above Rs 520 crore, according to Box Office India.
In fact, Trade analyst Ramesh Bala went a step further and said the film had already grossed Rs 710 crore.
With this, Rajamouli’s epic extravaganza is more than half way through to becoming the first Indian motion picture to gross Rs 1,000 crore at the box office. The first part had opened to blockbuster collections in the range of Rs 50 crore on Day 1 and gone on to collect a massive Rs 650 crore (gross) at the worldwide box-office. (Read more)
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