NETFLIX RE-EVALUATING ‘BAAHUBALI’ PREQUEL SERIES

NEW DELHI: The much-anticipated two-season Netflix prequel to India’s ‘Baahubali’ titled ‘Baahubali: Before The Beginning’ is now being “reevaluated” by the streaming giant, reported Variety.

The prequel series to the fan’s favourite blockbuster hit film ‘Baahubali’ was announced in 2018 with the film’s producer Arka Mediaworks producing for Netflix. As per Variety, Deva Katta and Praveen Sattaru were on the director’s chair. For the unversed, the series based on the bestselling ‘Baahubali’ franchise novel ‘The Rise of Sivagami’ by Anand Neelakantan, was to follow the journey of Queen Sivagami from a rebellious girl to a wise queen.

One of the two seasons ordered by Netflix cost USD 20 million and was directed by Katta at Hyderabad film set. The series is currently in the post-production process.

However, as per Variety, Netflix was not entirely happy with the finished product, and considered bringing in other directors, including one who had directed two previous Netflix projects— Padma Shri awarded filmmaker S. S. Rajamouli. There were mid-stream cast changes as well.

“Netflix have been struggling with the project for some time now,” an insider informed Variety.

“’Baahubali: Before the Beginning’ is one of the country’s most loved IPs (but) creating India’s first epic series comes with its own challenges. The last two years with Covid were full of complexities and hurdles, which impacted productions, especially one of this scale,” the source added. Netflix is “reevaluating the project to bring the best version of this story” to audiences, the source explained.