Baahubali: The Beginning

**Baahubali: The Beginning** (English: The one with strong arms) is a 2015 Indian epic fantasy action film that is directed by S.S Rajamouli and produced by Shobu Yarlagadda and Prasad Devieni. The film is one of the two cinematic parts that are shot in Telugu and Tamil. It was released on July 10, 2015.

This film was also officially released on YouTube in 4K HD Tamil.

## Synopsis

In ancient India, a young adult man named Shivudu ventures away from his village and becomes caught up in the crossfire battle of a mysterious rebel tribe upon befriending one of its warriors. He soon learns that he has a grievous past involving the tribe's enemies, the evil emperor Bhallaladeva. He learns about his father, Amarendra Baahubali, the reason why Devasena was being tortured, and who he really is.

## Plot

### Mahendra Baahubali Must Live!

An woman named Sivagami exits a secretive cave wounded and exhausted, carrying a baby. She is followed by two soldiers from the kingdom of Mahishmati who attempt to kill her. Sivagami strategically traps and kills them first, and becomes caught in a river current. She declares to lord Shiva, the Hindu deity of evil's destruction that her life can be taken for the mistakes she's made, but for the sake of Mahishmati and the baby's mother that "Mahendra Baahubali" must live. She drowns, but not before a group of villagers save the baby she carries. The villagers are part of the Amburi tribe, who reside near the river and worship Shiva. One of their men sees Sivagami floating in the water, and quickly jump to the rescue to save the baby. Sivagami drowns to death, The tribe leader, Sanga, decides to adopt the baby and seals up the cave to prevent any danger, as she believed the top of the cave to be the source of the danger.

### Scaling the Mountain

Sanga names the baby Shivudu, or Shivu who grows up 25 years later as a kind hearted and adventurous young man. He constantly shows ambition in climbing up the mountain from where the waterfalls lead to the river. Despite Sanga's repeated scolding Shivu tries again and again but fails, which is talked about among his friends. In order to keep her son disciplined, Sanga performs a prayer ritual in Shiva's honor which involves pouring water from the waterfall on the Shiva Lingam statue. Shivu dislodges the Shiva Lingam and picks it up, showing that he has superhuman strength somehow. He places the Shiva Lingam underneath the waterfall, much to his mother's happiness.

Shivu finds a mask one day, and realizing that his has feminine features is further motivated to climb the mountain and find the owner. After many attempts to scale the mountain, he is finally able to successfully climb the mountain. After reaching the top, Shivudu explores the forest at the top, and finds a young warrior woman named Avanthika running away from Mahishmati soldiers. This is later revealed to be an ambush, and Avanthika and the rebel group made short work of the soldiers. However, before killing one, Avanthika notices an amulet similar to the ones that are used within the rebel group. When asking the soldier how he attained this, he admits that one of the men from the rebel tribe snuck into Mahishmati to try and free Devasena, but ended up failing and was killed as a result. Upon hearing this from the soldier, Avanthika decides to kill him anyway despite his pleas.

### Mahishmati

Under Bhalla's rule, Mahishmati resorts to slave labor to forge weapons that Kattappa oversees. He befriends weapons dealer Aslam Khan and confirms that his role in Mahishmati is to command the army as general, but his lineage serves the royals of Mahishmati like servants nonetheless. It is shown that Bhalla enslaves his subjects and enjoys holding power over them, and he rules the kingdom along with his adoptive son Bhadrudu (alias Bhadra) and his father Lord Bijjaladeva. He knows that Kattappa hates him for reasons unknown but Kattappa still stays loyal to him believing he has nothing else left for him. Devasena also is held captive in a cage and chained in the square, and Bhadra and Bhalla beat her regularly, to Kattappa's disappointment. However she refuses to be set free by Kattappa's wish, showing that she's been building a pyre bed just to kill Bhalla and that her long lost son will be the one to do it, believing that Mahendra Baahubali is still alive despite Kattappa and the rest of the kingdom believing that he is dead.

In the meantime Shivudu secretly stalks and tries to flatter Avantika by drawing hena on her, which causes her to suspect. She and Shivu however formally meet and become friends after Shivu saves her from more Mahishmati soldiers. He promises to stand by her throughout her troubles and offers to rescue Devasena in her place. Avantika asks Jaya to trust Shivu, and the next day Shivu infiltrates Mahishmati to find Devasena. On Bhalla's birthday, the citizens are forced to mount a giant golden statue of Bhalla and praise him. Shivu manages to stop the statue from falling and accidentally unmasks in front of a citizen briefely, and the people start chanting Baahubali. He wonders who Baahubali is, and the name brings discomfort and hate to Bhalla. That night he interrogates the guards to find out who gave away the name, and Shivu who is disguised as a guard escapes the room. He finds Devasena and sets her free, who seems excited to see him. Kattappa and Bhadra follow Shivu as he escapes the gates by chariot, and the Mahishmati guards and scouts intercept him. Devasena is recaptured but Mahendra fights and kills Bhadra just as the Rebels and Amburis arrive on the scene looking for him. Kattappa charges at him but drops to his knees, and shouts "Baahubali" into the skies.

A confused Shivu demands to know why the Rebels and Kattappa's teammates are bowing to him when he's never met them and who he is. Kattappa explains that Shivu's real name is Mahendra Baahubali, and that he's the son of a revered warrior prince named Amarendra Baahubali. Many years ago, the Mahishmati king Somadeva had two sons named Bijjaladeva and Mahadeva(alias Vikramadeva). Bijjaladeva was a deranged man who had a deformed hand, and was thus denied the role of king while Vikramadeva took the throne. Bijjaladeva later got married to the rebelious subject Sivagami who earned position in the royal household and had a son with her named Bhallaladeva. Vikramadeva dies in battle and his wife dies of childbirth, so Sivagami rules as queen and takes in their baby named Amarendra Baahubali. She raises both boys to become noble princes and trained in academics and military. Amarendra time and again proves his compassion and loyalty to the people while Bhalla becomes corrupt and jealous of his brother's popularity, and influenced by Bijjaladeva that he deserves to rule the people however he wants. Bhalla has become desperate and plotted to hurt his brother to take the throne for himself.

The brothers grow up serving their kingdom well, and one day a traitor in the kingdom named Sakithan turns out to be a spy for the malicious Kalakeya tribe. The Kalakeyas, led by chief Inkoshi are savages who pillage and destroy kingdoms in large numbers. The Kalakeyas intend to invade Mahishmati and the royals counter back. They use a forgotten Trident battle formation and divide the armies among the brothers, and the one who slays Inkoshi will prove worthy of the throne. Bijjaladeva secretly gives Bhalla better weapons and more men. The brothers fight their way through the Kalakeya troops and Baahubali successfully frees captive subjects as well as motivating the soldiers. They make way to Inkoshi and Baahubali captures him, but Bhalla kills him. For Baahubali's deeds, Sivagami chooses to make Baahubali king over Bhalla.

Sanga and Mahendra request to know of Amarendra's whereabouts, but Kattappa tells them that he's dead and that regrettably, it was he who killed him.

## Cast

* Prabhas as Shivdu (Mahendra Baahubali) and Amarendra Baahubali
* Rana Daggubati as Bhallaladeva
* Ramya Krishnan as Maharani Sivagami
* Anushka Shetty as Maharani Devasena
* Tamannaah as Avanthika
* Sathyaraj as Kattappa
* Nassar as Bijjaladeva
* Rohini as Sanga
* Pruthviraj Balireddy as Jaya Varma, Devasena's brother
* Tanikella Bharani as Swamiji
* Adivi Sesh as Bhadra, son of Bhallala Deva
* Prabhakar as Inokshi, Kalakeya king
* Sudeep as Aslam Khan
* S. S. Rajamouli as spirit seller
* Nora Fatehi as dancer in green blouse
* Scarlett Mellish Wilson as dancer in orange blouse
* Sneha Upadhyay (*cameo*) as dancer in blue blouse
* Rakesh Varre as Bhallaladeva's friend
* Teja Kakumanu as Sakethudu
* Bharani as Marthanda

## Production

*Baahubali: The Beginning* was produced in Tollywood, the center of Telugu language films in India, which is based in Hyderabad. The film series is touted to be the most expensive in India till date. In February 2011, S. S. Rajamouli announced that Prabhas will star in his upcoming movie. In January 2013, he announced that the working title as *Baahubali* and the actual film production started at Rock Gardens in Kurnool on 6 July 2013. The waterfall scenes in the film were shot at Athirappilly Falls in Kerala, huge sets for the Mahishmati kingdom were constructed at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad and the snow episodes in the film were shot in Bulgaria. The screen writer, K. V. Vijayendra Prasad who wrote stories for most of Rajamouli's films once again penned the story for Baahubali. The film boasts of one year pre production work where in 15,000 story board sketches for the film were created which is highest for any Indian Film till date. More than 90 percent of the film had visually enhanced shots and according to the producer, more than 600 VFX artists worked for the film from 18 facilities around the world led by Makuta VFX and Firefly in Hyderabad, Prasad Studios in Hyderabad and Chennai, Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad, Tau Films in Malaysia, and Dancing Digital Animation and Macrograph in South Korea. Makuta VFX which had prior experience of working with S.S.Rajamouli was chosen as principal visual effects studio. The cinematography of the movie was done by KK Senthil Kumar for 380 days using Arri Alexa XT camera with Master Prime lens marking Rajamouli's first film using digital camera. Most of the film was shot in ARRIRAW format in 4:3 aspect ratio while ARRIRAW 16.9 was used for slow motion shots at 120 fps. Open Gate format, which can utilise the full 3.4K sensor in the camera to produce frames larger than the standard ARRIRAW format was tapped in to get the maximum image quality in VFX shots.[18] For the first time in Indian movies, 4K movie print was rendered with an aspect ratio of 1:1.88 as compared to Cinemascope at 1:2.35 to get the best cinematic experience in screens that support the 4K projection claimed the Producer.[19] Sabu Cyril, production designer for the film created 10,000 different kinds of weaponry ranging from swords, helmets and armors required for the soldiers. To make the swords light weight Carbon-fibre was used instead of steel, the same material used in manufacture of Helicopter blades claimed the art director.[20] 3D printing technology was used to create the head of 100 foot Bhallala Deva's character in the movie and flexi foam was used to create amours to make them light weight and to have the look of leather.[21] V. Srinivas Mohan was chosen as visual effects supervisor and Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao was the Editor. PM Satheesh was the sound designer and Peter Hein was responsible for the action sequences. The costume designers were Rama Rajamouli and Prasanthi Tipirneni. The line producer was M. M. Srivalli.

### Visual effects

National Award Winner V. Srinivas Mohan was roped in as Visual effects supervisor for Baahubali. The film boasts of 90% CGI work which accounts for 2500 VFX shots. Makuta VFX which is based out of Hyderabad was chosen as principal visual effects studio and was responsible for more than 50% of the computer-generated imagery in the film.[22][23] The majority of work done by Makuta involved bringing the 1500 foot mystical waterfall to life, creating enormous mountains and huge landscapes including the kingdom of Mahishmati, with its massive temples and courtyards.[24] Creating the mammoth waterfall took nearly 2 years as Makuta has to deal with a lot of complexity in fluid dynamics and simulations. Each frame involving the water fall sequence was treated as creating a new set and employed a different set of methodology claims Makuta.[23]

Firefly Creative Studio which is also based out of Hyderabad worked primarily on the avalanche and the war sequences which accounts for nearly 25 minutes of the film. Firefly Creative was also involved in creating underwater VFX shots and in establishing backstories for Kalakeya characters. Tau Films from Malaysia was responsible for creating the CGI bison, while Prasad EFX from Hyderabad was responsible for some shots in pre and post battle episodes involving digital multiplication. Prasad was also responsible for creating a 3D image of Kattapa and mapping his head on to a duplicate actor in one of the scenes.[25]

Srushti VFX from Hyderabad was involved in digitally creating some of the shots in the war sequence along with Firefly studios.[26] Annapurna Studios from Hyderabad was chosen as digital intermediate partner for the film which is responsible for generating the digital feed with the best color and audio for editing. For the first time in Indian movies, Academy Color Encoding System workflows were implemented along with Infinitely Scalable Information Storage keeping in mind the mammoth scale of digitally enhanced shots in the film.[27] Arka Media Works, production company of Baahubali, teamed up with AMD to utilise the state of the art FirePro GPUs W9100 and W8100 during the post production of the film which are capable of rendering 4K content in real time and are considered the best in Industry to date.[28]

Reacting to media reports on the same VFX team for Baahubali and Jurassic World, producer Shobu Yarlagadda denied outright any such collaboration, calling such claims an internet rumor.[29] In an interview with Quartz, the co-founder of Makuta VFX stated, "Most of *Baahubali* was developed in Hyderabad, home to Tollywood, and used local talent. It was principally a homegrown feature produced by homegrown talent."[30]

### Kilikili language

The fictional language Kilikili (also referred to as Kiliki) used as the language of the Kalakeyas - a ferocious warrior tribe, was created by Madhan Karky for the film. It is said to be the first fictitious language to be created for an Indian film character.

While Karky was pursuing PhD in Australia, he took up a part-time job of teaching and baby-sitting children. During one such interaction, he thought it would be fun to create a new language that could be easily grasped. Basic words were first made up and opposites were represented by word reversals - me was *min* and you was *nim*. The language which introduced 100 new words was called "Click" to highlight its simplicity. This formed the foundation for Kiliki.

* Kilikili consists of at least 750 words and more than 40 concrete grammar rules
* It was designed to be an intuitive language - Karky said he used hard consonants and soft consonants depending on the nature of the word's meaning.
* The language was created keeping in mind that the Kalakeya warriors had to be portrayed as terrifying brutes.
* The language sounds the same in all the versions - Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam - of *Baahubali*.

## Music

S.S Rajamouli's cousin, M.M. Keervani composed the music and the sound supervision was done by Kalayan Koduri.

## Release

The film released on 10 July 2015 in 4,000 screens worldwide in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam languages. A record number of 1600 screens in Telugu, 1500 screens in Hindi, 350 in Tamil and 225 screens in Malayalam were booked for the release.The film was released in USA a day earlier by BlueSky Cinemas in 135 screens.A premier show was also held on 9 July at Prasads IMAXHyderabad. The film's release in Kerala was hindered amidst a close down by a section of theatres over the piracy issue of Malayalm film *Premam* and released only in few theatres. The Telugu version of the film was presented by K. Raghavendra Rao, Tamil version by K.E. Gnanavel Raja, Sri Thenandal Films and UV Creations , Karan Johar presented the Hindi version and Global United Media presented the Malayalam theatrical version. International version of the film which is 20 mins shorter than the original one, done by Vincent Tabaillon was screened at Busan International Film Festival . Producers of the film have planned to release the film in China in over 5000 screens in November 2015 by E Stars Films. Baahubali will be the biggest release in China for an Indian film, beating PK which was released on 22 May 2015.The film is also set to release in Japan.Twin Co which is a leading distributor for international films in Japan has acquired the rights for screening of the film. The producer Shobu Yarlagadda who struck the deal at Busan Asian Film Market also revealed his plans to release the movie in Latin America, Germany and European countries. MVP Entertainment is set to release the movie in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste countries.Sun Distribution acquired the distribution rights of the movie in Latin American countries while Creative Century Entertainment got the rights for Taiwan. In Korea, the movie is scheduled to be released via Entermode Corp.Arka International, which is the sales arm for International release has made arrangements to release the movie in Germany and 70 other territories.

### Re-release

As the sequel *Baahubali: The Conclusion* was released on 28 April 2017, the producers and distributors re-released the first part (Hindi) again on 7 April 2017.

## International film festivals

The film was screened at various film festivals like *Open Cinema Strand* of Busan International Film Festival, Indian Film Festival The Hague, Sitges Film Festival in Spain,[48] Utopiales Film Festival in France, Golden Horse Film Festival in Taipei, Taiwan,Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia,[51] L'Etrange International Film Festival in Paris,Five Flavours Film Festival in Poland,Hawaii International Film Festival in Honolulu, Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival in Brussels, Belgium, Cannes Film Festival in France, Transilvania International Film Festival in Romania, Le Grand Rex in Paris, Kurja Polt Horror Film Festival, Festival de Lacamo, 8th BRICS summit, and the 2016 *Indian Panorama* section of the International Film Festival of India,Goa.The international version of the film was released in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Philippines, Timor-Leste along with some European and Latin American countries.

### Marketing

Marketing of the film started 2 years before the shoot by S. S. Rajamouli with the audition campaign in Facebook and YouTube. A number of short promotional Making-of videos were released on ArkaMediaworks YouTube channel and the team unveiled first look posters and videos featuring the film's lead stars on the occasions of their birthdays. The film used an augmented reality application to play the trailer on smart phones and tablets. The crown used by the character of Baahubali in the film was exhibited at Comic Con, Hyderabad as a part of the film's promotion. A cosplay event was held in which chosen winners were given a chance to visit the sets of the film. The film's unit also launched a WhatsApp messenger to give regular updates about the film to the subscribers. On 22 July 2015, Guinness World Records approved the poster created during the audio launch of Baahubali in Kochi on 27 June 2015 as the world's largest poster. The poster has an area of 4,793.65 m² (51,598.21 ft²) and it was achieved by Global United Media Company Pvt Ltd. (This record has since been broken with a 5,969.61 m² poster for the film MSG-2 The Messenger.) A special skit was performed by the Baahubali team for the event named *Memu Saitham* to help the victims affected by Cyclone Hudhud. After the film's release, an interactive quiz was conducted by marketing team on storygag allowing users to find out which Baahubali movie character they were. Producers are also has planning to create a film museum at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad which will showcase the weapons, armours and costumes used by actors in the film which is first of its kind for any Indian movie till date. Museum is expected to be ready before or right after the release of Baahubali: The Conclusion. The film's website hosts merchandise which includes apparels, accessories and film's collectibles.

It is also one of the films featured in BBC's documentary on 100 Years of Indian cinema directed by Sanjeev Bhaskar.

### Distribution

In early July 2014, the film first part's Karnataka and Ceded (Rayalaseema) region distribution rights were sold to a prominent distributor for ₹23 crore (US$3.6 million) out of which the Ceded region, which included Kadapa, Kurnool, Anantapur, Chittoor and Bellary areas, the rights alone fetched ₹14 crore (US$2.2 million). At the same time, the film's Nizam region theatrical distribution rights were purchased by Dil Raju for an amount of ₹25 crore (US$3.9 million). only for the first part.Though he did not confirm the price, Dil Raju said in an interview to Deccan Chronicle that he purchased the first part's Nizam region rights and added that he would acquire the rights of the second part also for this region. BlueSky Cinemas, Inc. acquired the theatrical screening and distribution rights in United States and Canada.

## Critical reception

Critics praised the film for its direction, technical values, and the actors' performances. Lisa Tsering based on *The Hollywood Reporter* wrote, *"*The story has been told many times before — a child is born destined for greatness and as a man vanquishes the forces of evil — but in the confident hands of accomplished South Indian director S.S. Rajamouli the tale gets potent new life in *Baahubali: The Beginning.*" Allan Hunter, writing for *Screen Daily* noted that "The broad brushstrokes storytelling and the director's over-fondness for slow-motion sequences are among the film's failings but this is still a rousing film, easily accessible epic. There's rarely a dull moment in Baahubali: The Beginning, part one of a gung-ho, crowd-pleasing Telugu-language epic that has been shattering box-office records throughout India." Mike McCahill of *The Guardian* rated the film four stars out of five, praising the film, "Rajamouli defers on the latter for now, but his skilful choreography of these elements shucks off any cynicism one might carry into Screen 1: wide-eyed and wondrous, his film could be a blockbuster reboot, or the first blockbuster ever made, a reinvigoration of archetypes that is always entertaining, and often thrilling, to behold." Suprateek Chatterjee of *The Huffington Post* wrote, "However, all said and done, *Baahubali: The Beginning* is a remarkable achievement. What Rajamouli has pulled off here, despite its flaws, is nothing short of a miracle, especially when you take into account India's notoriously risk-averse filmmaking environment and when the film ends on a tantalising cliffhanger (paving the way for *Baahubali: The Conclusion*, due to release next year), one can't help but applaud his singularly brave vision. As the cliché goes, a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step, but it doesn't really matter if that first step is shaky as long as it lands firmly and confidently."

Deepanjana Pal of *Firstpost* wrote, "This battle is Rajamouli's tour de force. It's elaborate, well-choreographed and has some breathtaking moments. Prabhas and Dagubatti are both in their elements as the warriors who approach warfare in two distinctive styles. The outcome of the battle is no surprise, but there are enough clever tactics and twists to keep the audience hooked. The biggest surprise, however, lies in the film's final shot, which gives you a glimpse into the sequel that will come out next year. And it's good enough to make you wish 2016 was here already." Saibal Chatterjee of *NDTV India* rated the film with three stars out of five and stated, "The spectacular universe that the film conjures up is filled with magic, but the larger-than-life characters that populate its extraordinary expanse do not belong to any known mythic landscape. To that extent, Baahubali, driven by the titular superhero who pulls off mind-boggling feats both in love and in war, throws up many a surprise that isn't altogether meaningless." Shubhra Gupta of *The Indian Express* praised the film: "Right from its opening frames, 'Baahubali' holds out many promises: of adventure and romance, love and betrayal, valour and weakness. And it delivers magnificently on each of them. This is full-tilt ,fully-assured filmmaking of a very high order. 'Baahubali' is simply spectacular."In her review for *The Hindu,* Sangeetha Devi Dundoo wrote, *"*The war formations that form a chunk of the latter portions of the film are the best we've seen in Indian cinema so far. These portions are spectacular and show the technical finesse of the cinematographer (K.K. Senthil Kumar) and the visual effects teams. The waterfall, the mystical forests and water bodies above the cliffs and the lead pair escaping an avalanche all add to the spectacle. Give into its magic, without drawing comparisons to Hollywood flicks."

Sukanya Varma of *Rediff* gave the film four out of five stars, calling it 'mega, ingenious and envelope pushing!'. Critic Archita Kashyap based at *Koimoi* also gave the same ratings, "Be it the war sequences, or sword fighting; or a visual spectacle, or pure entertainment it is worth a watch. Kudos to the dedication of S S Rajamouli and his leading men, Prabhas & Rana, for spending years putting this film together. Actually, in its imagination & Indianness, *Baahubali* might just be a whole new start." Rachit Gupta of *Filmfare* gave the film four stars (out of 5) and summarised, "*Baahubali* is truly an epic experience. Had the story not been so jaded, this would've gone into the history books as an all-time classic. But that's not the case. It has its set of storytelling flaws, but even those are overshadowed by Rajamouli's ideas and execution. This is definitely worthy of being India's most expensive film. It's a definite movie watching experience." Suparna Sharma of *Deccan Chronicle* praised the second half of the film, writing, "Rajamouli has reserved all the grander and grandstanding for later, after interval. That's when the film stands up and begins to strut like an epic." Suhani Singh of *India Today* pointed out that the film is best enjoyed keeping logic at bay. She added, "SS Rajamouli and his team put up a fascinating wild, wild east adventure. It takes pluck to conceive a world like the one seen in *Baahubali* and to pull it off on a level which is on par with the international standards. The almost 45-minute-long battle sequence at the end is not just one of the biggest climaxes, but also the action spectacle rarely seen in Indian cinema. And if Rajamouli can present another one like that in part 2, then he is on course to register his name in cinema's history books. We can't wait to revisit Mahishmati kingdom." Critical reception penned by Shubha Shetty Saha for *Mid Day* rates the film with four stars out of film, exclaiming, "While watching 'Baahubali', you might have to periodically pick up your jaw off the floor. Because this is not merely a movie, it is an unbelievably thrilling fantasy ride." The review extends praising the aspects, "It is to the director's credit that every aspect of the film – action, mind-boggling set design and choreography – lives up to this epic film of gigantic scale. The choreography in the song that has Shiva disrobing Avantika to get her in touch with her feminine side, is an absolute gem.

## Box Office

*Baahubali: The Beginning* on the first day of its release collected ₹75 crore (US$12 million) worldwide which was the highest opening ever for an Indian film until Kabali surpassed it in 2016 by earning ₹87.5 crore (US$14 million).The film collected ₹15 crore (US$2.3 million) alone from United States on its first day. First weekend collections stood around ₹162 crore (US$25 million) worldwide from all its versions, the third biggest ever for an Indian film. The film grossed around ₹255 crore (US$40 million) worldwide in the first week of its release. It became the first South Indian film to gross ₹300 crore (US$47 million) worldwide, reaching there in 9 days, and  subsequently grossed ₹401 crore (US$62 million) worldwide in 15 days. And has successfully crossed ₹500 crore (US$78 million) mark in 24 days.By the end of 50 days, the film grossed an approximate ₹595 crore (US$93 million) crore worldwide, based on estimates from *International Business Times*. Overall collections of the film stood at ₹650 crore (US$100 million) as of today. *Baahubali: The Beginning* grossed more than ₹500 crore (US$78 million) in India alone and became the highest-grossing movie in India surpassing the gross of *PK* (2015) of ₹440 crore (US$69 million) from India.

### In India

*Baahubali: The Beginning* opened to 100 percent occupancy in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and close to 70 percent occupancy in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. It grossed around ₹50 crore (US$7.8 million) on its first day of release in India from all four versions (Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi). The Hindi version earned around ₹5 crore (US$780,000) nett which was the highest opening for any film dubbed into Hindi. Baahubali grossed ₹49.48 crore (US$7.7 million) on the first day in India. The Hindi version grossed around ₹19.5 crore (US$3.0 million) nett in the first weekend.

The Telugu version alone earned around ₹65 crore (US$10 million) nett in first weekend in India. The film, from all its versions, earned almost ₹100 crore (US$16 million) nett in its first weekend. It had the fourth biggest opening weekend ever in India.The Hindi version collected around ₹40 crore (US$6.2 million) nett in its first week. *Baahubali: The Beginning* grossed more than ₹178 crore (US$28 million) nett from all its versions in India in the first week. It added a further ₹45 crore (US$7.0 million) nett in its second weekend to take its total to around ₹224 crore (US$35 million) nett in ten days. The Hindi version grossed over ₹40 crore (US$6.2 million) nett in the Mumbai circuit.

### Overseas

The film collected around ₹20 crore (US$3.1 million) in its first day from the international markets. The film opened on the ninth spot for its weekend, collecting around US$3.5 million with a per-screen average of $15,148.[104] The film debuted in the ninth position for the US and Canadian box office collecting $4,630,000 for three days and $3,250,000 for the weekend of 10–12 July 2015 [105]Baahubali: The Beginning grossed £66,659 from its Telugu version in United Kingdom and Ireland and A$194,405 from its Tamil version in Australia in till its second weekend (17 – 19 July 2015). The film also grossed MYR 663,869 in Malaysia from its Tamil version.[106] The film grossed US$540,000 on its opening weekend in China. It has grossed a total of CN ¥7.49 million(₹7.78 crore) in the country. The film totally earned $10.94 million at the overseas box office.

## Sequel

Baahubali 2:The Conclusion was released worldwide in April 28,2017.

## Trivia

* It become the highest grossing Indian film within India.
* It is the third highest grossing Indian film globally.
* It is the first and only South Indian film to gross over ₹650 crore (US$100 million) worldwide.
* It is the first non-Hindi film to gross over ₹100 crore (US$16 million) in the dubbed Hindi version.
* It is the highest grossing Telugu film of all time until Baahubali 2 crossed it.

## Gallery

 File:Baahubali The Beginning (German Trailer)