S S Rajamouli’s much vaunted fusion epic Baahubali The Epic yoking the two parts of the Baahubali franchise has underperformed severely. While the collection on Day 1 were impressive 18 crores, on Day 2 the collection dropped drastically to around 7 crores.
There are not many takers for S S Rajamouli’s Baahubali The Epic especially in Hindi. With a playing time of a staggering 3 hours and 45 minutes, the period action drama is a big turnoff for the boxoffice.
One prominent personnel from Mumbai’s leading multiplex chain says there is minimal interest in watching a film that audiences have basically seen already. “They have joined together Part 1 and Part 2 of Baahubali and added a few scenes. Audiences have already seen both parts of Baahubali many times over, so what is the selling point?”
Speaking exclusively, trade guru Taran Adarsh says, “Unfortunately, the Hindi version is not doing so well. Mainly because, I guess, people have watched both the parts.They have watched it in Telugu also, not denying that, but it’s doing well in Telugu. But in Hindi version, somewhere the fact that it wasn’t well promoted prior to its release in the Hindi market.”
Taran feels the promotional pitch for Baahubali in Hindi was wrong. “It should have been promoted as a film that is a solo film, not just a repeat run.A lot of people are under the impression that it’s a repeat run and that’s the reason why they are staying away. The fact that both the parts have been combined and made into one film is unknown to many. So if at all they would have promoted the film well in the Hindi market, I am sure it would have met with a better response in the Hindi market.”
However , according to Taran Adarsh there is a silver lining. “The Bahubali epic has met with a fantastic response in the Telugu states. It’s packed everywhere, running to packed houses. The response is phenomenal.The Telugu version is doing superlative business.”
Producer & Trade analyst Girish Johar feels it is not all a loss for Baahubali The Epic. “It has amassed around 18crs nett, across all languages , in two days, domestic market, which I feel is a very good fair number. This is a first of its kind where two parts of the film are released as one film, kind of a repeat run but of a different kind. Both the earlier parts were watched by large section of the audiences earlier. So a technical re-release now is also still being cherished by its fans. This move by its makers will add more strength to BAAHUBALI being a cult film, for all time.”
