Baahubali 2: The success march of nearly-banned SS Rajamouli's creation in Karnataka

The atmosphere in Bengaluru had begun to worry the cine goers in Karnataka a month ago. The pro-Kannada groups had then started intensifying their protests against Baahubali 2 over anti-Karnataka comments made by Sathyaraj, who has played the role of Kattappa in the series. With no distributors willing to buy the Karnataka theatrical rights of the Prabhas-starrer, the fate of the film hung in balance. But what we saw post release is turning out to be history.

Baahubali 2 was released in over 400 screens in Karnataka in four languages on April 28. The movie shattered all the existing records as it minted Rs. 20 crore on the opening day in the state. This alone tells the craze around the film. Although there were confusions about the government's order on capping movie ticket price to Rs. 200 from May 1, it did not impact the film's business as the Rana Daggubati's film enjoyed fantastic viewership on all the weekdays in the first week.

It becomes evident after Baahubali 2 raked in massive Rs. 62+ crore in the first week with distributors' share of Rs. 29.50 crore. By the end of its second weekend, the collection had reached close to Rs. 75-crore mark.

The first instalment had fetched Rs. 35+ crore for the Karnataka distributor of Baahubali with a gross collection of Rs. 65 crore. Now, the second part has surpassed this business easily and racing towards Rs. 100-crore mark, which will be a historic moment in Karnataka.

The trade experts are stunned by the development as they had never imagined Baahubali 2 to do such collection in Karnataka. Many had given up hopes on the film when none of them had come forward to acquire the Karnataka rights owing to the protests. This forced the makers to directly release the flick through NM Entertainments.

It has to be noted that Karnataka is the only state where all four versions were released big and struck gold at the box office. 

Protests Before the Release
The pro-Kannada were venting their anger against Sathyaraj and targeted Baahubali 2 for the comments that he made nine years ago. The clip of his statement went viral online after the first part of the SS Rajamouli's series was released. Apparently, the protestors decided to target the SS Rajamouli's film as they felt that it was right time to make him apologise.

SS Rajamouli tried to pacify the agitators by claiming that Sathyaraj was just an actor in the film and he had neither directed nor produced Baahubali 2. He said that they should not target them for the comments made by him as the makers were no where linked to it. He also spoke to the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce and Rebel Star Ambareesh. But they could not solve the issue.

Finally, Sathyaraj apologised when the Kannada groups called for the bandh on Baahubali 2 release day in Bengaluru. In a video message, he regretted his comments, which had hurt Kannadigas, thus putting an end to the controversy.