Baahubali: Before The Beginning, Netflix‘s much-awaited prequel to the popular Baahubali film franchise, could be shelved, according to Variety. In 2018, the streaming platform had announced the web series, which was to be directed by Deva Katta and Praveen Sataru.
As per the Variety report, one season was shot by Katta in Hyderabad, costing around Rs 150 crores, and later sent to post-production. However, Netflix was not entirely happy with the finished product and considered bringing in other directors, including one who had helmed two previous projects for the OTT platform. Some cast changes reportedly had to be made as well.
While Arka Mediaworks, producers of the films and co-producers of the series, and Netflix both refused to comment, an unnamed source informed Variety that the streaming giant has been facing some challenges with the project for a while.
“The last two years with Covid were full of complexities and hurdles, which impacted productions, especially one of this scale,” said the source, adding that the streamer is “reevaluating the project to bring the best version of this story” to audiences.
In an earlier conversation with Silverscreen India, co-director Katta had spoken about the project and said, “The Baahubali series made a huge impact with its unique storytelling. This prequel promises to amp up the excitement of all the Baahubali fans. I am really honoured to be part of this project and be able to work with Rajamouli sir.”
The series was meant to mark the second online venture of the franchise. An animated series Baahubali: The Lost Legends premiered on Amazon Prime Video last year.
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The SS Rajamouli-directed films featured an ensemble cast comprising of actors Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramya Krishnan, Sathyaraj, Nassar, and Subbaraju.
Originally made in Telugu, the 2015 super hit Baahubali: The Beginning was distributed in Hindi by Karan Johar‘s Dharma Productions. Its sequel Baahubali: The Conclusion was the first Telugu film to get a worldwide release in Hindi.