S S Rajamouli’s vision, when spelt out on 70 mm, turned out to be of Baahubali proportions. The film has become legendary, shattering records. Honestly, we have stopped keeping a track of the records that it has broken as by the time it stops, there will be many new records that will be difficult to shatter anytime soon. Nobody envisioned a response like this to the franchise, which has now turned into a cult. But we feel that SS Rajamouli’s decision to divide the film into two parts was a gamble that fortunately paid off. We will tell you how.

The Harry Potter effect

When the makers of Harry Potter decided to break the seventh film into two, fans across the world were hugely disappointed. But it was a gamble worth giving a shot by Warner Bros. Producer David Heyman had rejected claims then that it was done to cash in on the craze twice over but you cannot deny the fact that the two films earned humongously. In fact, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows part 2 is the highest grossing film in the franchise, earning $381,011,219. (Also read: This Khan can’t stop gushing about Baahubali 2’s blockbuster success – watch exclusive video)

Same goes for Baahubali 2 but there is a twist in the tale here. The Baahubali franchise is not based on any book but is an original script. Yes, the films seem inspired by Mahabharata. Also, from the beginning, a two-part series was planned which worked immensely in its favour. Baahubali 2 is now a Rs 1000 crore + film. But while splitting a story into two is a common practice in the West (Read: Twilight Breaking Dawn was also made into two films), India has hardly witnessed such a trend. So there was no assurance that the franchise will become a huge rage. Also, Baahubali built the craze from scratch and didn’t have any lore to fall back on for creating the buzz. It’s the first film which helped Baahubali 2 become a raging hit and also SS Rajamouli’s conviction. It could have all gone wrong but fortunately people loved it.

Period drama 

Baahubali is a pan-India film and period films have hardly got the kind of reception it got. Costume dramas have become highly scant with only Sanjay Leela Bhansali scavenging through the past for period romances. Also, Baahubali is not based on mythology but is pure fiction. The only way to make it work was to give it a grand scale with a relatable story. That’s where Baahubali reigned supreme. The first film mounted an average storyline on a monumental scale and presented to everyone a technically sound film. Again, the gamble paid off because in the recent times, the audience has not been exposed to so much grandeur.

What happens to the second?

But we feel Baahubali 2 should be eternally grateful to the first film for creating the right buzz and making people like it. It not only had a cliffhanger climax but the whole experience itself made people go crazy about the first film. But what if Baahubali: The Beginning had failed to make a mark on the audience? What would have happened to the second film? They would still have to release the film because it was getting shot. If you remember Vijay’s Puli, which released only a few months after Baahubali: the Beginning, was expected to have almost the same impact as Prabhas’ film but it failed. Fortunately for the makers, people took an instant liking to Baahubali’s first part and since then, all they did was add fuel to the fire in people’s head to know as to why had Kattappa killed Baahubali? Perhaps for the first time in Indian cinema history, an unfinished plot in the first film became the biggest marketing strategy for the sequel.

So if Baahubali 2 is creating a lot of firsts in terms of box office records, it has also given new reasons to Indian Cinema to know how to get your film liked by the audience.