I want the audience to enter into the world of Bahubali, says director Rajamouli

While the sequel of India's most expensive film, Bahubali, is still a while away, Director S.S. Rajamouli and Producer Shobhu Yarlagadda of Arka Mediaworks are all set to build it into a franchise, which will take Bahubali and the kingdom of Mahishmati to the world of comic books, animated films, games, merchandise and much more. The duo have partnered with character entertainment company, Graphic India, to extend Bahubali beyond the film. "The franchise will enable fans to get deeper and deeper into the world of Bahubali across platforms," says Sharad Devarajan, Co-Founder, Graphic India.

In a conversation with BT's Ajita Shashidhar, Rajamouli and Yarlagadda share their vision for the Bahubali franchise.

Excerpts:       

Q: When you conceived Bahubali, were you clear that you will take it beyond the film?

Rajamouli: No. In the beginning we created the world of Bahubali for the film. Once the world was created, we realised that it could be much more than a film. There were hundreds and hundreds of people who approached us for games and comics; we didn't want that. We didn't want games and comics just based on the film.         

Yarlagadda:  Film-making needs different knowledge and skill sets, the narrative in comics is different and the skills required for merchandising is also different. Our expertise is more on film-making. We created the world and the film, and Graphic India brings in the knowledge of transferring the narrative into the world of comics or animated series. We needed this collaboration to make Bahubali trans-media.

Q. Can you tell us in detail what triggered the thought that Bahubali could be developed into a franchise?

Rajamouli: When we started the idea of Bahubali, our approach to the film was entirely different. We were in pre-production for a year-and-half, before we even canned the first shot. We worked on the details of each and every character, as you know, there are so many characters in Bahubali. We wrote production notes for each and every character, each and every kingdom. You have seen the Mahishmati kingdom in the film and the big palaces, but it was not just the big palaces, we made notes on what was the engineering, what were the minerals that were available, the various skills of the people and how they acquired them and how the kingdom developed over a period of time. We were writing not just notes but also stories on how it happened. We have huge production notes and what you have seen in the film is a small part of it. There is so much more story to be told. I want the audience to enter into the world of Bahubali.

Q. Why have film franchises not worked in India?

Rajamouli: Whatever little franchise we have in India is limited to a few toys or video games that come with the film and dies with the film. We are indeed using the film Bahubali to promote the franchise, but it is just for the initial boost. We have so many stories to tell. The comics, animated series and games that will follow will not be limited to the film. It will be much beyond the film. The euphoria of the film will end after the second part of the film will be released, but the euphoria which will start with the comics and games I expect it to last really long.

When we created the world of Bahubali, there was the city of Mahishmati. When we created that city, we answered questions such as what is the soil made of, the plantations, what are the cash crops, the food crops, what do they eat, what are the minerals available and so on. Since cotton and silk were the main cash crops at that time, we got the costume designers to make the costumes out of those materials. The minerals that were available in that era were used to make the weapons. You will see an image of Bahubali holding a sword but behind it there is so much of information and stories that have been created. Any one can create franchises if they have the kind of structure behind the story.

The first thing we are looking at is comics, which will be followed by the animated series and then games, merchandise and much more.

Yarlagadda: Usually when a film is launched, you have comics or a game coming mostly out of the film, which is used as a marketing tool. Here, we have created a world. So, the film isn't at the centre of things. In this case, the film happened to be the first starting point, which is helping drive other things but it isn't at the centre of things.

Q. What kind of stories would you be telling through comic books and other platforms?

Rajamouli: The principal characters will still be there, but there are many more characters to come. If you have seen the film, you will realise that we have just skimmed the surface. There are so many stories to be told. We know about the legendary rivalry between Bahubali and Pallav, but why did the rivalry start, how did it develop, how did it reach the point of one brother standing against the other. There is an interesting, compelling, intriguing story there. 

Left to right: Producer Shobhu Yarlagadda of Arka Mediaworks, Mr SS Rajamouli and Sharad Devarajan, Co-Founder, Graphic India

Q. How challenging is it to keep a franchise alive and kicking?

Rajamouli: If you have a successful film and you want to take something more out of it, then it's limited. The life of a film is limited, maybe 3-4 months. In our case the film isn't the feeding point for the rest of the trans-media. Even before we have created the film, we have created the world of Bahubali. The film is actually an offshoot of the larger library of stories that we have created. We are not basing the comics on Bahubaali the film, we are basing it on the world of Bahubali. The biggest challenge is to feed the stories. You have to get your feed from a much bigger library and not just the film. The challenge is to create that library.

Q. Will the comics series be multilingual?

Rajamouli: Absolutely. We will ensure that it is available in all the languages, English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Even in international languages.
   
Q. Hollywood franchises such as Star Wars are popular in India, but their popularity is limited to the cities. How do you plan to make the Bahubali franchise a mass franchise?

Rajamouli: Bahubali is made for Indian audiences in general and the success of the film across the country is a proof of that. We are pulling out stories from the same library from which we created the film which proves that it will be successful across all segments of the population.

Q: You mentioned that merchandising would be a key element of your strategy, however nobody till date has succeeded in the licensing and merchandising business in India..

Rajamouli: There is always a first time (he smiles)!

Yarlagadda: The reason why they haven't been successful is because they did not have a sustained franchisee story-telling. Once the movie goes, the interest to buy the merchandise goes. Your interest goes up when you, the fan, is continuously engaging with the property over a period of time across TV, animation or comics. If it's just a film, it doesn't work. When you build a world that is going into TV, comics, games, and you are touching them at different points, obviously, you are building scale and there is a thought process behind it.

Rajamouli: You see a film, you come home and watch an animated film on TV, on your mobile phone you watch a comic book, then obviously when you go shopping and see the merchandise, you will want to buy it. When you are looking at the merchandise, you may want to watch the film again or the animated series. Everything is inter-related. One helps the other.

Q: How big will be the Bahubali Franchise?

Rajamouli:  Hopefully, huge! It will be much beyond the film.

Q. Are we going to see more franchises?

Rajamouli: The success of one will lead others to follow. We are expecting Bahubali to be a successful franchise, so that many more will follow suit.

Q. When is the second edition of Bahubali hitting the screens?

Rajamouli: It will be either late this year or early next year.