A damp squib!
Pre-release event of Baahubali - The Conclusion was a complete washout, right from a no-show by Tollywood celebrities to boring speeches.
The makers of Baahubali — The Conclusion held a pre-release event on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Sunday. Nearly 10,000 people attended the function, mostly dominated by Prabhas fans.
Though they expected something from the event, it was a complete disappointment on many levels, as everyone took their own time to thank each and every unit member that they worked with.
Even though the event was organised in Hyderabad, except for the cast and crew and their relatives, no one from the Telugu film industry attended the event. It is unclear if they were invited at all or ignored, but only Krishnam Raju and Suresh Babu, related to lead actors Prabhas and Rana Daggubati, attended.
Not just the industry, even the media gallery was completely empty for a long time, only to be occupied by non-media people after some time. The local media was also seated too far away from the proceedings, from where they could not report on who was coming or what the ambience was like. Interestingly, this is not the first time that the film unit has ignored the local media.
The chief guest for the event was Mumbai import, Karan Johar, who is part of the Hindi version of the Baahubali franchise. As the event started a bit late, 45 minutes of the first Baahubali film was shown.
They then showed a special video of each person that worked for the film. Most of the speakers thanked their staff for working tirelessly with them for five years, after which they proceeded to thank S.S. Rajamouli and the producers for the opportunity given to them.
Only Vijayendra Prasad and the film’s music director M.M. Keeravani spoke about things that were related to the film, while the others just came up with their own votes of thanks.
Karan Johar went overboard as he compared Rajamouli with Hollywood directors Steven Spielberg, James Cameroon and Christopher Nolan. “Rajamouli is now a global filmmaker and he is in the league of top Hollywood directors and beyond that,” he said. He added that when Mughal-E-Azam released in 1960, the Indian film fraternity stood together and were proud of the Indian film. “Now, 67 years later, there is an experience like Mughal-e-Azam on Indian celluloid and that is Baahubali,” Karan said.
Other ‘highlights’ from the event
Producer Shobhu Yarlagadda gave a lengthy speech in English, without uttering a word in Telugu! Ironic, considering he started his work in the Telugu industry around 10 years ago. Perhaps he wanted to impress Karan Johar and Anil Thadani from Bollywood.
Veteran actor Krishnam Raju — Prabhas’ uncle — came on to the dais with Prabhas’ help. After his speech, Prabhas helped him get back to his seat.
Meanwhile, 75-year-old director K. Raghavendra Rao requested anchor Suma to ask Tamannaah and Anushka to help him get off the dais. Though said in a lighter vein, his request had the crowd burst into laughter.
Nearly 800 security people were hired to look after the event, which included 300 policemen, 300 private security and 200 bouncers. Cinematographer Senthil Kumar claimed that the film will collect Rs 1,000 crore!