Exclusive: Did Baahubali pave the way for big-budget epic films? Karnan director RS Vimal responds

Since the release of the magnum opus Baahubali: The Beginning, Indian filmmakers seem to be bitten by the genre of epic historical fiction. Movies made with big budgets with quality technical support have become a trend these days as many such films have been released and few have been announced for the next year.

After Baahubali, Anushka Shetty's Rudramadevi, which belongs to the similar genre, was released and was opened to a fabulous response from the audience. Recently, Karthi's Kaashmora also hit the screens but was opened to mixed reviews. Meanwhile, the Indian entertainment industry is awaiting the release of the sequel of Baahubali, which is Baahubali: The Conclusion, aka Baahubali 2, Jayaraj's multi-lingual project Veeram and Prithviraj Sukumaran-starrer Karnan. 

Why filmmakers are keen on making such bug-budget projects? 

When International Business Times, India asked this question to filmmaker RS Vimal, who is directing Karnan, he stated that the audience is ready to accept a movie if it has a good story and technical support.

"With the release of Baahubali, it has now been proven that if movies with a good script are made with good technical aspects, they will emerge victorious. I could experience Baahubali really in Aries Plex multiplex in Thiruvanthapuram, where the blockbuster collected the maximum earning from a single screen. Thanks to the quality of the theatre as well as the film, it has made us realise that people will view such films even if the tickets are charged really high," RS Vimal says to IBTimes, India.

RS Vimal talks about Karnan || Budget of Karnan revealed

"I had planned to make Karnan long before, but now after Baahubali, it has become so easy to convince producers and technicians to be part of such projects as they too believe that these movies will be accepted well by the audience if it has a good story. Take the example of Pulimurugan, apart from Mohanlal's performance, the team has also used good technical aspects that make it a blockbuster," Vimal adds.

The filmmaker also highlighted that with viewers accepting movies of all genres, it has become difficult to understand their taste. "We are unable to understand the taste of the movie-goers these days, they like to watch classic movies like Ennu Ninte Moideen as well as the action thrillers like Pulimurugan. So, if a movie has a good story with quality technical works, they will be accepted by the audience for sure." 

Meanwhile, the pre-production works on Karnan, which is the second directorial venture of Vimal after the blockbuster project Ennu Ninte Moideen, is under way and will start rolling by next year. It will be made with a budget of over Rs. 300 crore by Venu Kunnappilly under the banner of Kavya Films.