Don’t want the world of Baahubali to end: Rajamouli

THE FILMMAKER BELIEVES FILM MEDIUM HAS ITS LIMITATIONS. THIS HAS PERSUADED HIM TO EXPLORE OTHER MEDIUMS SUCH AS NOVELS, COMICS AND ANIMATION

The man of the moment in Indian cinema, SS Rajamouli (right) is basking in the success of his film, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. The filmmaker admits he doesn’t want the craze to end. “The world of Baahubali is so fascinating. It shouldn’t end and I’ll pray for it,” says Rajamouli, who thus, plans to extend the franchise to the world of comics, animation series and novels.

“In the Baahubali universe, there is so much more worth knowing about the characters. Each of them has a back story. Unfortunately, film medium has its limitations and not all stories work well in it. The story of Sivagami, for instance, is so powerful and exhaustive, we realised it will work wonders as a novel,” he says.

Sivagami’s story has been turned into a three-part novel. The Rise of Sivagami by Anand Neelakantan is the first book in the trilogy.

Talking about the franchise being expanded into an animation series titled, Baahubali: The Lost Legends, Rajamouli says he’s a big fan of the medium. Would he like to direct an animation film on a different subject altogether? “As exciting as the idea sounds, it took us five years to take Baahubali to the audience. It’s going to be a very time-consuming process and I don’t think I can afford so much time on a project again,” he says.

What’s the next big thing on his mind after a franchise like this? “My long-time desire is to make a film on Mahabharat. You can imagine the scale on which it has to be made... It has been on my mind for long, but I don’t know yet when it will happen,” the filmmaker concludes.

PHOTO: SHAKTI YADAV