New Delhi: SS Rajamouli’s magnificent visual delight ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ opened in theatres on April 28, 2017, and the fans can’t keep calm. The huge canvas of the film has been one of the major talking points among viewers besides the quintessential question of ‘Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali? (Kattapa Ne Baahubali Ko Kyu Maara).
With trade analysts predicting it’s first day collections eyeing a Rs 100 crore historic collection, the lead hero Prabhas has certainly arrived and how! The epic saga of love, drama and war has clicked with the fans creating a rage across the nation.
The social media platforms are buzzing with the rousing response this film is witnessing pan India. “The advance booking is crazy; there are corporate bookings of 100-200 seats. There is a repeat value for this film. The opening day collections should be at Rs 70 crore in all the languages. It’s all set to create history with the film earning Rs 230-240 crore over the weekend,” a Mumbai- based exhibitor Akshay Rathi told PTI.
“I came at 5 AM. I got a ticket for the second show (night show). I wanted a ticket for a matinee or first show. But I am happy that I got a ticket,” Anusha, a college student, in Hyderabad, said.
Fans of Prabhas, who plays the lead role of Baahubali, put up huge cutouts of the popular star to celebrate the release of the film. Outside cinemas, fans poured milk on the cutouts, copying religious rituals reserved for gods. In fact, filmmaker SS Rajamouli, actress Anushka Shetty and music director MM Keeravani visited a theatre screening of the movie in Hyderabad to gauge the response of the audience, according to PTI.
In Delhi, major cinema chains like PVR and Inox have allocated 80 percent of its total capacity to ‘Baahubali 2’. “PVR has allocated close to 80 per cent of its total capacity to ‘Baahubali 2’ in India as well as in Delhi. The film has taken a phenomenal start, the occupancy is expected to be 85 percent for day one for entire PVR chain,” Kamal Gianchandani, CEO PVR Pictures, told PTI.
The Telangana government has allowed five shows of the film to be screened following a request from the producers. In Karnataka, fans reportedly paid up to Rs 1,600 per ticket to watch the film. As much as 75 per cent of screens available in the state is showing the film.
In Bengaluru alone, 72 of the 94 single screen theatres were screening it, trade experts said. In Mysuru, as many as 40 screens out of 45 are showing ‘Baahubali 2’.
The Kannada film fraternity is pushing for the implementation of a budgetary proposal to peg the ticket prices at Rs 200 in single screen theatres and multiplexes.
In Kerala, producer-distributor Prem Menon of Global United Media, predicted the film will shatter all the existing box office records in the state. “It has released in 310 screens (142 in Malayalam and the rest in Tamil) and we are still counting. Theatres across the state had scheduled close to 60 early morning shows today. We are expecting the film to gross Rs 5 crore in Kerala, which will be a record,” he told PTI.
In Mumbai, the ticket prices started as low as Rs 200 and went up to Rs 1,500.
Trade analyst Komal Nahta says the Hindi version itself is all set to create new benchmarks.
“The opening day looks like 40 crore plus for Hindi version and the weekend will be more than 100 crore. The film is destined to make history and it is going to break every single record – opening day, weekend, first week and so on,” he said.
Nahta says going by the positive word-of-mouth across the board, the film will challenge existing record holders from Bollywood such as ‘Sultan’, ‘PK’ and ‘Dangal’.
Prabhas starrer will surely break the record of Bollywood stalwarts Salman Khan and Aamir Khan.
‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ has an impressive star cast of Prabhas in the lead with Rana Daggubati, Tammaanah Bhatia, Ramya Krishnan, Sathyaraj and Nassar playing pivotal parts.
The first part ‘Baahubali’ had collected Rs 650 crore (gross) at the worldwide box office.
