Baahubali 2 box office prediction: 3 things that may affect collection of Rajamouli's Conclusion

Director SS Rajamouli's Baahubali: The Conclusion (Bahubali 2) is gearing up for grand worldwide release on April 28, but 3 aspects might affect the collection at the box office as per the latest predictions.

Baahubali 2 has been making it to the headlines ever since the first installment in the Baahubali film series hit the screens. Of late, the sequel to Baahubali is creating buzz for some wrong reasons and the release of the film may be halted in different regions due to various reasons.

Firstly, actor Sathyaraj, who has played Kattappa in Baahubali, had made insulting comments against late legendary sandalwood actor Dr Rajkumar and Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj  over Cauvery water dispute almost 9 years ago. Now, some activists' groups in Karnataka have intensified their protests against him and threatened to stall the release of Baahubali in Karnataka if he does not apologise for his comments.

In addition, the makers of Baahubali 2 are demanding a huge amount for its theatrical rights for the states. The threat of the Kannada activists has created a fear in the distributors, who are reportedly in no mood to shell out a high price on its rights. With barely two weeks left for its release, these issues have landed the release of the much-awaited movie in a troublesome situation.

Secondly, noted distributor Saravanan of Sri Green Productions has bought the rights of Baahubali 2 for Tamil Nadu and has planned to release it in a big way in the state. But on Wednesday, Chennai-based ACE Media moved the Madras High Court and sought a stay on its ​release in the state, citing unpaid dues of Rs 1.18 crore from the distributor.

The bench headed by Justice K Kalyanasundaram heard the petition filed by ACE Media, but refused to issue a stay order on the release of Baahubali 2 in the state. The court adjourned the case to the next hearing, which will take place on April 18. This issue has made the chances of its screening in the state grim.

Lastly, Baahubali 2 is scheduled to be released in four languages - Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam and the movie has to get censored in all the four languages. The makers are yet to get them certificates and they are likely to face problems in doing so due to some changes in the process of censorship.

Recently, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has laid out new rules to get the censorship. As per new norms, the filmmakers have to submit the application, details of the film, and other NOC certificates through online only and they have to wait for the turn of their movie in queue. The process will take place based on the serial number of the application, which might delay its release.

If these issues are not sorted out in time, they will have an adverse impact on the prospects of Baahubali 2 at the box office. Hundreds of crores are on gamble for its theatrical rights and these issues are likely to incur huge losses for the film-makers. Hence, the makers of the movie are said to be making efforts to sort them out as early as possible.