Fans of Baahubali who are still waiting to know the answer to the epic question — why did Kattappa kill Baahubali? — will soon get to know the origins and the early life of the character.
Filmaker SS Rajamouli is extending the franchise of the popular film by introducing a mini-series based on the prequel book The Rise of Sivagami.
While the concluding part of the film will be released on April 28, Rajamouli is planning to turn the three-book series by Anand Neelakanthan into a web series with 13 episodes each.
“This is perhaps the first time a film has a prequel via a book which will be turned into a series. The audience has lapped up the film and we expect to create the same with the series. It may be a web or a television series,” Neelakanthantold
Neelakanthan’s book tells the story of Sivagami, mother of Baahubali, growing up to be the queen of Mahishmathi and also introduces the famous character, Kattappa. Neelakanthan, who has authored books such as Asura: Tale of the Vanquished, Ajaya: Roll of the Dice, and Ajaya: Rise of Kali, said the plan was to create content for a mini-series using Indian ways of story-telling and characters that resonate with the domestic audience.
“We are looking to make it into a multi-lingual web or television series and will outline Sivagami’s journey,” he added.
Rajamouli had approached Neelakanthan to write a prequel novel to explore the origin of some of the key characters from the film .
Neelakanthan, who wrote the book in little over 100 days, said that the characters in the book matches the grandeur of the people and places in the film.
Released in 2015, Baahubali has grossed ₹600 crore, making it among the biggest success stories.
The second part of the film, which stars Prabhas as Baahubali and Rana Daggubati as Bhallaladev, is scheduled for April 28 release. The mini-series will be released after the film gets launched.
In October last year, Amazon Prime Video, along with Rajamouli, had announced a partnership to make a multi-episode animated series titled Baahubali: The Lost Legends.