The Goliath Returns

For big-budget films, the stakes are, literally, quite high. And from the sequel of a blockbuster like Bahubaali, the expectation is the stuff of fantasy. Having left viewers on the edge of their seats, Baahubali’s sequel has finally hit the screens after two years. If director SS Rajamouli’s initial magnum opus cost Rs.180 crore and returned many times over, Bahubaali 2 is reported to have cost Rs.250 crore.

Films from Southern India rarely receive the kind of collections that a Bollywood superhit is able to, but Baahubali 1: The Beginning set a variety of box-office records and is believed to have netted Rs.650 crore. Having released the film worldwide in about 8,000 theatres, the producers clearly want to rewrite the record books this time. If one goes by the initial response, they just might.

According to media reports, Baahubali 2 has already garnered Rs.500 crore from its satellite and theatrical rights. Moreover, booking portal BookMyShow declared that pre-release, they had already sold over a million tickets of the movie. Given this frenzy, it is predicted that the film will end up grossing Rs.1,000 crore. That revenue number is a major milestone for a lot of companies and in that context, when a single Indian movie rakes in that much, it is nothing short of phenomenal. It’s an achievement befitting Baahubali.