Baahubali changed the way I look at myself: Tamannaah Bhatia

Actress Tamannaah Bhatia has said the film Baahubali has changed the way she looks at herself and that her director SS Rajamouli’s faith in her has increased the level of faith she has in herself.

Bhatia, who was in Chennai recently for the audio launch of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, told mediapersons, "The way I look at myself has changed because of Baahubali. Now, I ask a lot of questions. I trouble my directors a lot more. I think a lot more and I want to do a different kind of cinema. I realised how one person's faith in you can change your own faith in yourself.”

She added, “The kind of technicians I worked with in the film were all excellent. Be it the stunt choreographers or the choreographers — even the choreographers I had worked with previously excelled in Baahubali. That was because they were given a lot of creative freedom. We all were given instructions but we were also given creative freedom.

Bhatia plays Avanthika, a warrior princess wooed by Prabhas' Baahubali in the films. 

“Sometimes, as an actor, you are just cornered and put in a shell and told, 'Please do just this much.' You can't explore and you can't do what is the most in you. But when you are given a direction and when you are given freedom as well, then there's lots you can do. There was a very good balance for every actor to explore themselves and at the same time, given very clear cut instruction of what we need to do. So, for me, this was a great learning experience.”

When her attention was drawn to the criticism from some quarters over the scene in which Shivudu woos Avanthika in Baahubali: The Beginning and the claim that women were being stereotyped in the film, Bhatia said, “This is when I realised how every human perceives things differently. For us, it was how she realises that she was a woman and how she realises her feminine side. A woman is so many things. For me, it was a beautiful experience of how she flowers. Everybody perceives things differently and we perceive it like this.”

Baahubali 2:The Conclusion has been made at a reported budget of Rs250 crore. The film is one of the most awaited films of the year, and is expected to hit the same mark as its predecessor. The film is expected to hit the Rs 100 crore mark on its opening day itself. 

Baahubali 2:The Conclusion is scheduled for theatrical release on 28 April.