Netflix Baahubali series shelved after spending ₹150 crore?
The web series, ‘Baahubali: Before the Beginning’, based on the story of the rise of the powerful queen Sivagami of Mahishmati, has been reportedly shelved by the makers, Netflix, after spending ₹150 crore, said news reports on Tuesday (January 25).
According to reports, Netflix did not want to take the risk of meddling with something that has such an “iconic” status and may revisit it again, but this time around, only when the material on paper is strong enough to justify the legacy. The project was ostensibly halted after the makers were not happy with the pre-production which did not match their vision for this grand project.
After the phenomenal success of S S Rajamouli’s two-part ‘Baahubali’ franchise, the streaming giant along with SS Rajamouli had announced a prequel to the franchise, ‘Baahubali: Before The Beginning’. The series was to focus on Baahubali’s mother, Shivagami (played by Ramya Krishnan in the films), and Mrunal Thakur (last seen in the 2021 ‘Toofan’ and ‘Dhamaka’) was roped in to play the lead.
The series was based on author Anand Neelakantan’s historical fiction novels – The Rise of Sivagami (2017), Chaturanga and Queen of Mahishmathi (2020).
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The series ran into trouble first when the director Deva Katta had walked out of the project since the makers did not like what he had planned. This happened after huge sets worth crores had already been erected in Hyderabad and six months of shooting had been completed.
The makers behind the project brought in new directors Kunal Deshmukh and Ribhu Dasgupta who also began the prep work in July 2021. The news reports stated that after spending almost ₹150 crore, the team took a call to stop the project even before the shoot instead of investing another ₹200 crore.
In August 2018, Netflix had announced this series with this official synopsis: From before Amarendra Baahubali’s reign as king, comes a tale of power, politics and intrigue of Queen Sivagami’s rise from a vengeful girl to a wise and unequalled queen. Witness the legacy of Mahishmati as it grows into a mighty empire no one dares to oppose.
