The five-year of journey of S S Rajamouli in making two-part Baahubali ends. The sequel of the highest grosser Indian film Baahubali-The Beginning will hit the screens on April 28. Though he looks relieved after a strenuous journey, Rajamouli has already planned for life for the movie well beyond the screen avtar.

The makers of the film, made with highest budget so far in the Indian film industry, has prepared a blueprint. The World of Baahubali brings in firms working in mobile gaming, app development, animation, merchandising and book publishing.

As the film is slated for release across the world in a variety of languages and formats (regular and IMAX presentation), film’s director Rajamouli and producer Shobhu Yarlagadda lined up all the partners that would extend the life of Baahubali well beyond the movie avtar.

ArcaConnect, an entity set up by Baahubali’s producers, has partnered with a variety of partners to tap the business potential of the movie.

“We have realised the potential as soon as we zeroed in on the script. We knew there’s life beyond the film. We have started signing up with partners to make this a reality,” Shobhu Yarlagadda says.

Anand Neelakantan has just penned a 500-page novel the Rise of Sivagami, which traces back the life of the Rajamata to 30 years before the conspiracy brew at the royal court. The first in a trilogy around the Baahubali film, it is going to be released into 12 Indian languages. The Telugu version will be ready in a week or so.

“The theme has got nothing to do with the theme of the two movies. Rajamouli has instructed me to trace back the story to 2-3 decades,” Anand Neelakantan has said, while showcasing the English version of the trilogy.

Graphic India is coming out with an animation serial that features the Baahubali characters but with a different story line. It will be released weekly on Amazon Prime from next month. Mobigesture, a start-up, has developed an app that brings together all online info for the fans of the movie. Moonfrong, a gaming start-up, is readying a strategy game around the battlefields of Mahishmati.

Another firm has partnered with the producers for merchandising the Baahubali branded items. You will soon be able to buy T-shirts with images of swords used in the film, toy swords.

Talking on various facets of the Bahubali brand, Rajamouli says there’s something for everyone. “It is wrong to think that animation is only for kids. Animation is a perfect way to explore with characters much deeper,” he says, commenting on the animation series.

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