During the trailer launch of Baahubali: The Conclusion, director SS Rajamouli had said that even though the film will end the story, the world of Baahubali will continue through comics, virtual reality video, novels etc. The virtual reality video was released last year during the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival last year. Recently, the book, Baahubali: The Rise Of Sivagami, by Anand Neelakantan, was also released.
Now, the makers have launched an animated version of the magnum opus titled, Baahubali: The Lost Legends. The series focuses on the invasion of Mahishmati by Kalakeya warriors. It will feature the younger characters of Baahubali and Bhallaladeva, played by Prabhas and Rana Daggubati in the movie.
Rajamouli has created the series in association with Graphic India and Arka Mediaworks. It is now available on Amazon Prime Video, the digital content platform by Amazon.
The filmmaker had always felt that Baahubali had enormous scope for a back story. Speaking to IANS news agency, he said, “What we managed to showcase in the films was just the tip of the iceberg. From the minute I started working on this story, I knew the world of Baahubali couldn't be encompassed into a film or two, simply because there's so much more to tell and animation is another way to do that.”
But Rajamouli has always been firm on ending the story with the second film. During the trailer launch last month, he had said, “I want my film to do well and gather lots and lots of money. But at the same time we know it is not good to kill a golden goose. The story which we started is going to end with Baahubali part two.”
He also said, “Just because there is a market, we try to push something which doesn’t have soul, I don’t think it will last long.”
Baahubali: The Conclusion will be released on 28 April.