Mammoth epic, colossal audio launch

Prabhas was the one who always gave reassurance whenever I felt tired and unenthusiastic about the film. He would remind me that we aren’t making any ordinary film and that we are in process of making a memorable film, a wonderful film

– SS Rajamouli

Over time, Rajamouli has become my anchor both personally and professionally. Being associated with him is my luck. When he told me we would work together in a big film, I didn’t know then that it would be as big as ‘Baahubali’. This was something that would happen only once in this lifetime

– Prabhas

The audio launch of ‘Baahubali – The Beginning’ was, as expected, a grand affair. Held at the foot of Tirumala in Tirupati on a mammoth note, the film’s entire cast and technical team was in presence. The event that lasted for four hours saw the entire journey of the film unfold as several moments, incidents and anecdotes related to its making were shared by the participants.

It was heart-warming to see each cast member go to the stage and announce their favourite technician from the film and names of people from behind the scenes. This definitely was a laudable idea by director SS Rajamouli. As the crowd of nearly 30,000 people cheered and shouted in joy, the film’s music was launched.

Rajamouli recalled how Prabhas came on board. “We had discussed the film six years ago and three years later I narrated the entire story to him. However, when I finally asked him to allot one year for the film, he chuckled, ‘You don’t know how many days you are going to take to complete the film. I will give you two years of my time’.”

‘All through the film I had his immense support. The director is the anchor for a film and it is his duty to pep up his unit. But Prabhas was the one who reassured me whenever I felt tired and unenthusiastic about the film. He would remind me that we aren’t making any ordinary film and that we are in process of making a memorable and a wonderful film.”

Prabhas shared that the journey was a memorable one and said, “If I begin talking about everyone involved in the film, time wouldn’t be enough today. But I would take this opportunity to speak about my journey with Rajamouli garu.” ‘I remember the first time I met him, ‘Student No. 1’ had just released.

He had talked about the possibility of working together and I wasn’t keen on it because I didn’t like the film much. Later when I watched ‘Simhadri’ I was stunned and regretted that I wouldn’t be able to work with him as I had said no earlier. But when we met later at a function and I told him, hesitantly, that I loved ‘Simhadri’ and he proposed that we meet the next day.

We did and he was very enthusiastic about a movie and I recall his words, ‘Don’t worry about the flops (‘Varsham’ hadn’t released then). We will make an amazing film.” ‘Over time, Rajamouli has become my anchor personally and professionally and being associated with him is my luck. When he told me we would work together in a big film, I didn’t know then that it would be as big as ‘Baahubali’.

This was something that will happen only once in this lifetime,” shared the elated actor. The evening saw a few emotional moments as music director MM Keeravani dedicated a song to Prabhas’ late father Suryanarayana Raju. Another moment was when Ramya Krishna became teary eyed as Rajamouli praised her for being the energy of the team.