Baahubali in a single part would’ve failed
PRODUCER SHOBU YARLAGAD TALKS ABOUT THE BIG SUMMER MOVIE AND WHAT THEY'RE DOING TO STOP IT FROM CIRCULATED BY PIRATES
Shobu Yarlagadda has always been behind the camera and that’s how he’s preferred it.
A non-interfering producer, he believes he “doesn’t have much knowledge about the art of cinema” mainly because he’s the “logistics man”. And if you’re still wondering why his name is so familiar, it could be because his name is synonymous with Telugu film industry’s most anticipated film Baahubali.
“When the script for Baahubali was narrated to me, I didn’t have any doubts that it would work. The story was good and I knew we could make it work. Besides, I knew Rajamouli personally. And I completely trust him.”
With Baahubali recently being in the news for a leak, Shobu says that they have taken a few measures to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. “Everyone on the sets is like family and we trust people. It was a stray incident, but we are careful now. By rule, no one brings their phones to the sets. Apart from that, everyone had to sign a disclaimer before they started work. We are also approaching the court to get an order that we will make websites issuing torrents for download liable. We also have a dedicated team that tracks Baahubali online. So should anything come up, they will help take it down,” he says.
Baahubali being a two-part film could also be a worrisome factor, should part one not do well, will the audience want to watch part two? But Shobu isn’t worrying. “When I heard the script, we realised that it would be a waste of time and money to work on such an elaborate story in one film, so we decided to break it in two parts. We be-lieve that it will do well and we have to wait and watch. There are no ifs and buts
here. If there were, we wouldn’t be able to thrive in this business,” he says.
Baahubali is also making waves owing to its cast Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah, Prabhas and Rana Daggubati. Shobu says that they are not just a team of colleagues, but friends too. “When you work on a project for three years, you tend to get close to everyone. Everybody on the sets is family. We (Rana, Anushka, Prabhas etc.) hang out at each other’s homes whenever we get time,” he says.
And how is working with Rajamouli? “I’ve known Rajamouli since a long time and I know how he works. Once he gets behind the camera, he forgets the rest of the world. We share a rapport where I can give him suggestions on how to do things, but I trust him and his knowledge completely so I stay away from doing so,” says Shobu, who is looking forward to a break after the film wraps up.
When you work on a project for three years, you tend to get close to everyone. Everybody on the sets is family. Rana, Anushka, Prabhas and the rest hang out at each other’s homes whenever we get time — SHOBU YARLAGADDA